Day 3505

I see some strange things when I'm walking in the park. Today I saw a guy riding a bicycle with his arm in a cast. You might not need both hands to steer, but don't you need both hands to operate the brakes? Hmm. I wonder how he broke that arm? The guy was riding like he was competing in the Tour de France too. It made no sense to me. The animals make no more sense than the humans. At this time of year birds like to congregate on electric wires. Sometimes you'll see hundreds of birds on a wire. At one of these locations I always see a big pile of dead birds directly under the wire. The birds are getting electrocuted. Don't they know what is happening? You'd think that at least one of these birds would be saying "Has anyone seen Bob lately," he was here just a minute ago." Getting zapped doesn't seem to deter the birds though. They come back to the same wire every day.

We had our first triple digit day of the Summer. It was well over a hundred degrees this afternoon. Coincidently, this was the day I paid the electric bill. The electric bills in July and August are always horrendous. It doesn't really matter where you set the thermostat, the air conditioner is always running. There's no point in wishing for cooler weather now. It's going to be pretty warm from now through the end of September.

I'm still trying to figure out the weather in West, Texas. I had a day all picked out to go to McDonald Observatory and just before I was going to make my reservation I checked the long range weather again. The day I wanted was clear yesterday and today there was a 40% chance of thunderstorms. The alternate day I was looking at had an even higher chance of thunderstorms. I looked at Yelp reviews of people who had visited the observatory and almost half of them said they had experienced cloudy skies. Almost all of them said it was much colder than they expected. I did a little research and discovered that July and August are considered the "monsoon" season in West Texas. Evidently during this time of year a stationary low pressure system typically sets up over Arizona and New Mexico drawing moisture into the area. It may not rain every day, but it is not the best time for astronomy. Despite all this, I think the area around the observatory is supposed to have clear skies for 2/3 of the year. People say there are better chances of clear skies in the Spring, but it can also get very cold in the mountains. Snow and ice are common. I wish the place wasn't so remote. It's a very long drive if you are just going to wind up with cloudy skies. On a clear night there is no place better for dark skies in the country though. Do I take a gamble or not?

These hot summer days are long and uneventful. No wonder Janet likes to travel. I'm not much of a traveler myself but almost everything I'm interested in doing seems to be outside of Dallas. That must mean something. If I was more of a free spirit, I'd probably be on the road right now. Since I'm not a free spirit at all, I'll be thinking about what to have for dinner tomorrow while I take my morning walk.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3102

We had our first 100 degree day of the year. I'm sure it won't be our last. It seemed ridiculously hot today. I kept thinking that we don't usually get this kind of weather until July. Then I realized that it is actually pretty close to July. Needless to say, Dash didn't get an afternoon walk. He had trouble yesterday when it was ten degrees cooler. We're just going to stay inside and hope the air conditioner keeps working.

I've started ordering breakfast from the side dish menu. These little plates with a single sausage link or a few pieces of toast seem just about right. The waiters don't seem happy. I think they want me to order a much larger meal. Not to worry. I'm still going to leave a good tip. I'm just not very hungry these days.

The art shippers called this afternoon. They're on their way. It's going to seem weird not to have these pictures on my walls any more. They've followed me around to two different states and three different houses. It's time to say goodbye though. Possessions can be an anchor around your neck. It might be more enjoyable to travel than to worry about whether a roof leak is going to ruin a painting.

I was going to clean the atrium today and I couldn't get the sliding glass door to open. Jeez. I was going to fix this thing last year, but never got around to it. Now, I've got one more thing on my to-do list. The list just keeps getting longer. Yesterday, I added a whistling toilet in Janet's bathroom. The toilet still works fine, but loud noises are usually a good indication that something bad is about to happen.

Anyone my age has probably watched the Carpool Karaoke episode with Paul McCartney by now. The video was plastered all over my Facebook wall this morning. This touching tribute to Paul's Liverpool roots brought back a flood of memories that had nothing to do with Liverpool. I grew up with the Beatles. It's amazing that after all these years, the Beatles and the Stones are still relevant. I was lucky to come of age in the golden age of music. The 60's and the 70's were a high water mark. Listening to a new album by The Lumineers just doesen't compare to hearing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon for the first time.

I got a letter from my sister today. I'm glad she's feeling well enough to write again. Her cancer is not in remission, but she seems in much better spirits. We followed dramatically different paths in life, but some things seem to be converging as we grow older. We both share the same distain for Uber and Airbnb. It's pretty obvious that we have joined the "Get off my Lawn" crowd.

When Dash woke me up last night to go outside, he ended up giving me a scare. He had a mild case of diarrhea and wandered all over the yard in a squatting position. When he was finished, he had trouble resuming an upright position. He seemed stuck in his pooping posture. I had to help him up and gently walk him around the yard a bit to get him moving again. When he came inside, he wasn't able to climb up on the bed and went to sleep on the floor. Luckily, he was walking fine this morning. Dash's rear legs are getting weaker and weaker. I hope he can make it through the Summer.

I hope I can make it through the Summer too. Right now, living in Iceland seems pretty appealing.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2671

What a miserable day. There were thunderstorms and heavy rain all day long. Dash refused to go outside and pee, becoming more and more frustrated as the day progressed. Dot had no problem going out in the rain. I don't even think she knew it was raining most of the time. We went out over and over again, getting soaking wet each time. Even though she had ample time to pee outside, Dot still chose to pee inside. It was one of those days. I sure wish I'd remembered to bring the rugs that were drying on the clothesline back inside last night, because now they are all wet again. Neither dog would relax today. They didn't like the rain and they seemed irritated at me for not making it stop.

I hope the new roof patches had time to cure properly. In theory, everything should be fine since they had at least three days to dry before today's rain, but things do not always go as planned. Once it rained less than twenty four hours after the roofers arrived and the coating they applied just dissolved and washed away. Roofers are always trying to convince me how great these new high tech coatings are on a flat roof, but I still think the original tar and gravel roof I had when I bought the house was better.

Something was strange with my breakfast smoothie this morning. I used exactly the same ingredients as I always do, but the beverage tasted very different. Did I get a bad banana? Is the Vitamix broken and not blending properly? I don't have a clue. Some people might not have even noticed the change in flavor, but inconsistency is a red flag to me. I may not notice many things in life, but I am very aware of inconsistencies. You'd think I'd be used to random changes by now, but I'm not. If I find something I like, I want it to stay the same forever.

I had a ton of errands to run today, but I didn't do any of them. Rainy days are basically a three ring circus around here. I always have to leave the back door open when I take Dot outside. Both of my hands are occupied holding Dot up, and if I stop to close the door, she'll fall over. Inevitably, Dash will wander outside just far enough to get his paws muddy and then go back inside again before I have a chance to clean him up. The entire day was like this. Dash wouldn't actually go out in the yard and pee. He would just stand in a puddle at the edge of the porch.

Since both dogs are scared of thunder and lightning, I ended up spending hours sitting with them in a corner trying to keep them calm. I wonder if they make me nervous or I make them nervous. I could care less about the thunder, but I fret about the power going out or a tree falling on the roof. Whenever there's a thunderstorm I always realize that I have failed to charge all my devices. The phones and tablets are charged now, but it probably doesn't matter. I think the weather is supposed to be nice for the rest of the week.

Maybe some sense of normalcy will return tomorrow. I hope so. I've had enough of this rain. There are websites I need to update. I've got to pick up some meds for Dash. There's a stack of bills that need to be paid. I need to get a bone density scan. I'm sure there are other things I've forgotten. I forget a lot these days. We'll start with the important stuff. If I can get Dot to pee without making a huge mess, I'm ready for anything.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2605

We ran a bunch of tests on Dash this morning and didn't find out anything definitive. I'll have to take Dash back to the vet tomorrow morning after a 12 hour fast to repeat one of the tests because he had too many fat cells in his blood today to check his phenobarbital levels. This has happened before. I don't know why Dash has fat cells in his blood but it happens a lot. I did learn some things to look for. If Dash has involuntary eye movement when he is staring straight ahead, this is very often a telling sign of vestibular disease. We are supposed to grab our phones and make a video if we see this. Shaking his head back and forth like we witnessed could happen with either an epileptic or vestibular seizure. Dizziness could happen in both cases as well. It doesn't look like this is going to be an easy diagnosis.

Dash hates to miss a meal, so I'll have to get him out of the house tomorrow morning before Janet feeds Dot. Luckily, the early morning blood test won't take very long so he'll get his breakfast as soon as we get home. Hopefully, we can prevent future seizures by making small changes in the medication Dash is currently taking. You always hope that intermittent problems will just go away on their own. It's good not to ignore these things though. The sooner you identify a serious disease, the more resources you have to cure it.

I got someone to come over today to give me an estimate on trimming my trees. I've used this guy for years and he's honest and fair, as well as being quite a character. While I was greeting him in the driveway this morning, he asked me to look at something in the back of his truck. "What do you think that is," he asked me. The large clear Plexiglas container looked like a fish tank to me.  "No, it's a fuel cell," the guy told me. "I make hydrogen out of water and then mix it in with my gas to reduce emissions." Personally, I don't think I'd want something that made hydrogen sitting in the back of my car, but hey, that's just me. This guy was real excited about his home brew fuel cell and told me that he was working on a way to improve the design so he could run his truck entirely on water. I just hope he doesn't blow himself up before he trims my trees.

Dot wouldn't eat the rice cake I give the dogs for lunch today. This was alarming, because she has always loved rice cakes. I started feeding the dogs rice cakes at lunch because they want to eat constantly and this was a way to give them the sensation of having a meal between breakfast and dinner without making them fat or adding many calories to their diet. I'd hate to see Dot lose her appetite, since eating has always been one of her favorite activities. I see new signs that Dot is slowing down almost every day and it makes me sad. I wish we could still go for water therapy, but transporting her in the car is just too difficult at this point. All I can really do at this point is try to make the remaining time she has with us as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

Work is still slow, so I wrote a letter to my Luddite sister this afternoon. I usually like the somewhat archaic ritual of writing letters the old fashioned way, but there are times when I wish my sister would get an e-mail account. e-mail is definitely faster. When I took the letter to the post office, I stopped by the neighborhood Pei Wei to get something for dinner. I'm so predictable that the guy at the counter already knew what I was going to order.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2048

On hot July days it's a miracle if I can come up with anything to tell you at all. There's certainly not much going on today. There is little incentive to go out in this heat. We mostly just hunker down, hoping that the air conditioner stays cools and the cars don't break down. Neither of us like to drive in the Summer. Janet has been getting nails in her tires recently and even though I have a reliable car now, I have too many memories of sitting on the side of the road in 100 degree weather, waiting for a tow truck to come haul the Defender back to the dealership. I'm always worried that the car is going to break down when I'm taking on of the dogs to the vet.

Luckily, the dogs didn't need to go anywhere today. I only got out of the house briefly to get more Palladia pills for Dot at the cancer center and pick up Keurig pods and blueberries at Sam's Club. I should have picked up a sprinkler at Home Depot, because the sprinkler in the front yard broke while I was watering the lawn this morning. Sprinklers, especially the unreliable oscillating kind, never seem to last more than a year.

When I was walking Dash this afternoon, I saw a small plane circling the lake towing a banner asking someone to marry them. I wonder if the girl even saw the proposal? Who would just happen to be outside looking up at the sky on a hot 100 degree July afternoon? I certainly didn't see many people out on the lake today. Most people had the good sense to stay inside. We didn't stay out long either. As soon as Dash did his business, we headed straight back to the air conditioned house. I bet that girl would have preferred a nice candlelit dinner instead of an airplane towing a big red banner.

I rarely watch TV, but when I do feel like watching, there never seems to be anything I'm interested in. How long do I need to wait before there's a new season of Dr. Who? Top Gear seems to have disappeared from the airwaves entirely after Jeremy Clarkson got fired from the show. At the very least there ought to be an old episode of Firefly that I haven't already seen. This afternoon I would have settled for a channel that played Faulty Towers over and over again. Since I have little interest in reality TV, real estate and home improvement shows, or news about the middle east, I just turned off the television and took a nap with the dogs.

Dot and Dash must have been bored too, because they weren't content with napping. As soon as I got comfortable, they both started barking and wanted to do something. I got Dot hooked up in her harness and took the dogs outside several times. As soon as they got out in the back yard they remembered how hot it was and wanted to come in again. We did this over and over until it was time for their dinner.

Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting. If it's not too hot, we'll take Dash to the small dog park again. He seemed more comfortable with the little dogs last week. I'll probably go to the gym in the afternoon. If I've got to work up a sweat, I'd rather do it indoors than mowing the lawn in 100 degree weather.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day