Day 3340

I wish the Shrimp Grits weren't so good, because I find the trendy restaurant troubling. The place is crowded and loud. You often have to wait a long time for a table. Worst of all it provides me with a glimpse of the future. Apparently, the future will be filled with fat people wearing skinny jeans, man buns, over the top painted on eyebrows, and very delicious food. There is a friendly vibe to the place. The waiters are super friendly and the customers appear to be enjoying themselves as well. Jeez. How can they enjoy all this chaos and noise? It is clear that I am the odd duck in this place.

The reason I went to the trendy restaurant is that I got off to a late start again. Dash was ready to walk on his own again this morning, but he was very slow. He took his time, smelling every bush and clump of grass. Dash does seem to walk better without the leg brace, so we'll go with that. I want him to enjoy these walks. When we got back home, Dash found multiple reasons to keep me from leaving for breakfast. He would head for the back door, so I would let him out to pee. He would head for the kitchen, so I would try to get him to finish his chicken. He would head for the bedroom, so I'd see if he was ready for a nap. Basically he was just not ready for me to leave the house.

Eventually, Dash settled down and took a long nap. This was a good thing, because I needed to go pick up my Aeron Chair. The Herman Miller people had finally finished their repairs. It was a long drive to the warehouse and the route took me past a lot of places I used to frequent. It always amazes me what a transitory place Dallas is. Virtually all the restaurants, computer stores, client headquarters, and other places that were familiar to me were gone. Every five years Dallas seems to completely reinvent itself.

The chair repair people were very nice but they said they had no way to take my money. They let me walk away with the chair without paying for it. "Are you sure this is OK" I asked? "Don't worry about it," the head repair guy told me. "Eventually, you'll get a bill from Herman Miller." Works for me. I wish everyone were this trusting.

Aeron Chairs have a reputation for lasting forever. "You ought to be good for another twenty years," the repair guy told me as I left. "I'll see you then" I told him and we both laughed nervously. The repair guy was about as old as I am. Chances are that neither of us will be around twenty years from now.

We were having pizza for dinner tonight, so I had to go park the car on a side street around mid afternoon. I knew I would need to pick up the pizza. The traffic has gotten so bad that I can't get out of the driveway during rush hour anymore. Businesses come and go in Dallas, but one thing stays the same. The traffic always gets worse.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3329

I knew this day would come. Dash couldn't walk today. I would lift him up and get him started and then he would just slump to the ground again. His rear legs weren't working at all. I finished fitting him for his Help 'Em Up Harness, but training him to use it isn't going to be easy. If I take too much weight off his rear legs they go limp. If I don't hold on to the rear handle of the harness at all, he falls. I have to provide just enough support that it gives him confidence to walk, but not lift too much or the harness will start to cut off circulation. Dot got to where she would walk almost normally using the Help 'Em Up Harness, but she was always a quick learner. It's going to take some time to get Dash used to this thing.

We'll probably never know if the Metronidazole pills contributed to Dash's current lameness. The vets don't think Dash was taking the pills long enough to cause a problem, but you never know. Weakness is a well known side effect of Metronidazole. I'm still hoping that Dash will gradually regain some of his strength. He's always going to remain weak, but it will make a huge difference if he is able to walk around the house on his own.

The guys who are fixing my Aeron Chair contacted me today and told me that they broke the pneumatic cylinder that controls the height of the chair when they were installing the new tilt mechanism they ordered for me. They said that they would replace the pneumatic cylinder at their cost, but that it would take a while to get the part. I don't think I'll get the chair back until late February. Hey, take your time guys. If we continue at this rate, I might end up with a whole new chair.

Dash got no walks at all today. We tried a short evening walk, but Dash wasn't comfortable with the new Help 'Em Up Harness yet and started dragging his rear legs. We didn't even make it out of the back yard. I'm going to enquire and see if Dash still might benefit from water therapy. This has always been a long shot since Dash hates water, is incontinent, and is a terrible passenger in the car. The underwater treadmill sure helped Dot though, so maybe it's worth a try. Being very weak is one thing. Not being able to walk at all is another. We've got to do everything we can to see if we can get him moving again.

I'm getting so tired of having a continually runny nose. I think I'm just suffering from a bad case of seasonal allergies because I don't have any other symptoms of a cold. Generally, I don't do well with antihistamines, but I went to CVS anyway planning to get some. I'm tired of blowing my nose every five minutes. There was an entire row of antihistamines with dozens of different brands. Some pills made you sleepy and had warnings about driving while taking them. Others warned of liver damage. Almost every pill had some weird side effect and I eventually walked away getting nothing. Seasonal allergies tend to be even worse in the Spring, so I have no idea how long this will last.

There was a beautiful sunset this evening, but I missed it. All I managed to photograph today was an angry Mockingbird in the back yard.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3317

I didn't want to get up this morning. It's probably good that I don't set the schedule around here because I'd end up sleeping till noon every day. Dash always likes to walk right after he takes his morning meds and Janet likes to take early classes at the gym, so we get an early start on Wednesdays. Today, the temperature was below freezing when we woke up, so Dash needed his full Winter outfit. It takes a while to get all his gear on, but it's worth the effort. Dash moves so slow now that he'd freeze on cold mornings without a warm sweater and paw protection.

The sky was clear today, so the temperature did eventually warm up as the day progressed. When the thermometer hit 40 degrees, I figured it was warm enough to go up on the roof again. There wasn't a lot of standing water today, but I don't want to take any chances. So far there haven't been any additional leaks. One of the pumps had tipped over again. Maybe it was that windy day when the greenhouse roof blew off. No wonder no water was coming out of the hose yesterday when it rained. I had to watch my step because there was still some ice on the roof. It took me about an hour to get things cleaned up. Hopefully I won't need to go up on the roof again for another week or so. The forecast looks pretty good for the rest of the month.

It was a sad state of affairs that clearing the water off the roof was the big event of the day. Things have been extremely uneventful lately. I spent some time after breakfast cleaning up a small cut on Dash's leg. He bleeds so easily now. He must have scratched his leg against a twig or some brush on our morning walk. I'm always careful where we walk, but it is impossible to prevent these accidents. Dash is a dog and he loves to smell things. The small cuts don't freak me out anymore. I've gotten much better at stopping the bleeding.

I got a message from Herman Miller that the replacement part for my Aeron Chair has been shipped from Michigan. That certainly took a while. I'd almost forgotten about the chair, since the loaner chair they gave me is pretty comfortable. As far as I'm concerned they can take their time with the repairs. It's just one more bill I'll have to pay when they're done.

Maybe I'll use the gift card the electric company sent me recently when the chair is ready for me to pick up. The electric company sends me a gift card every year to "thank" me for being a customer. Wouldn't it be easier to just lower my rate a bit? The gift card is always small and sometimes I forget about it until after it has expired. Maybe the electric company's marketing department has determined that customers like these little gift cards. They seem silly to me. Nobody gives you anything for free. I'd just like a lower bill every month.

I'm already thinking about breakfast on Friday. I'll probably go back to the same restaurant I tried last Friday, since there were so many things on the menu. Those shrimp grits sure were good. Maybe I need something special to do each day of the week. I've got the breakfast restaurants on Friday and the gym on Sunday. Tomorrow is trash day, but that doesn't sound very special. I'll have to think about this.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3302

What a busy day. The roofing crew arrived early. It took a while to explain what was going on, but once we were all on the same page, the guys found two additional leaks. Since these leaks corresponded to areas inside the house where water was getting in, I felt like we were making progress. When I asked whether they felt confident that the had discovered all the potential leaks, they just shrugged. "We'd have to tear up the entire roof to do that," one guy said. At least the guys made an honest effort to patch the leak. We'll have to see what happens when it rains again.

I got a quote on fixing my office chair. It's going to cost more than it cost to fix the dryer. How can that be? It's only a chair. Reluctantly, I told the guys to go ahead and order the parts. The repairs will still cost considerably less than buying a new chair. Janet suggested just going out and buy a cheap chair at Office Depot, but I like my Aeron Chair. It has served me well and even though I don't spend a lot of time designing websites or editing videos these days, I still like to be comfortable when I'm writing the blog.

Since I was making progress on the roof and the chair, I decided to tackle the driveway as well. I went out and bought a hundred pounds of river rocks at Home Depot and dumped them in the pothole. It wasn't an elegant solution, but it just might work. At this point I just want to stop getting mud all over my car every time I back out of the driveway. Before filling the hole with rocks, I checked to make sure there wasn't a water pipe underneath. Nope. The ground is just saturated with all the rain we've had lately.

The last thing on my list today was an attempt to fix the weird French toilet in one of the bathrooms. This seldom works, but since I can't get parts for the toilet anyway what do I have to lose? Basically I just shut the water off, clean off the parts as best I can and them put the flushing mechanism back together again. This is the most complicated toilet I've ever seen. It was probably designed by the same person who designed Citroën automobiles. Rube Goldberg would be proud.

Dash is still slipping on the bricks, so I went to the storage warehouse and brought back a few more rugs. I've already brought quite a few of these rugs home, but I was surprised at how many still remained. We must have covered our entire house with cheap rugs when Dot was sick. The rugs do make a difference. They help Dash get up when he's been sleeping on the floor and they help him stay upright when he's awake.

Towards the end of the day I got a call from the guy who is restoring my Sequential Circuits synthesizers. He said that one of the synthesizers was as good as new now and that he was making progress on the other two. These synthesizers have been in the shop for over three months now. I didn't even want to ask what this was going to cost me. I still don't feel bad about restoring this stuff. Vintage Sequential Circuits gear is very desirable. When everything is finished, I'll either start playing the keyboards again, or someone will want to buy them.

All in all, it was a good day. I like making progress even if the progress is small. The weather should be nice tomorrow as well, so today's roof repairs should have plenty of time to dry before rain puts them to the test again. Fingers crossed. For some reason I'm slightly optimistic today.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3301

Did I make any progress today? It's hard to tell. I'm sitting in a chair that stays upright, but it's just a loaner chair. My own chair might take up to a month to get fixed. Evidently nobody keeps a supply of parts for these chairs in Dallas. The weather was nice today. It would have been a perfect day to fix the roof, but the roofers had other plans. Nobody showed up. I did get a one word text message from the guys though. It said "tomorrow."

I was bragging about Dash yesterday, but today we had a setback. He could barely stand up this morning. He slipped and fell so often in the house that I had to leave his harness on so it would be easier to get him upright again. It's getting harder and harder for Dash to get up on his own. He struggles a lot now. I'm going to have to bring back more rugs from the storage warehouse because the brick floors have become too slippery for him. It's strange that things can change so dramatically from day to day with Dash, but that's the way it is. There will be other good days, but there's no avoiding the fact that Dash continues to go downhill.

When I took my chair to the Herman Miller store, it reminded me of how much I hate to drive. It's sad. I love cars, but Dallas traffic is terrible now. At certain times of day it feels like I'm driving in Los Angeles. I don't know how regular commuters avoid going insane. There's always a near miss somewhere. I'm always afraid that if I get hit, the other driver won't have a license or insurance. I guess that's why I prefer to stay in the neighborhood. Maybe this is why Amazon Prime has become so popular. Why leave your own house if you can avoid it.

Even frequent naps aren't erasing my sleep deficit anymore. I'm just not getting enough sleep. With a somewhat nocturnal, incontinent dog, getting eight hours of sleep is just a fantasy. It's not going to happen. Maybe if I slept whenever Dash slept I'd be OK, but I'd never get anything done. If Dash isn't eating or walking in the park, he's sleeping.

The pothole in my driveway keeps getting deeper and deeper. It almost seems like there is an underground spring beneath the driveway because the hole is always muddy and filled with water. It could just be all the rain we've had lately. The park is always muddy these days as well. The ground seems saturated with water. Of course in August this same ground will be dry and cracked. Texas weather is always like this. There is nothing in moderation. At any rate, the pothole is one more problem I can't keep ignoring indefinitely. I need to find someone who does driveway repair soon.

I'm really tired of fixing things. It never ends. Is this just the modern version of the Sisyphus legend? Sometimes I fantasize about living on a cruise ship where everything is done for you. Then I remember that I get seasick.

Misty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3299

Today was just a placeholder connecting yesterday to tomorrow. Not a lot happened. As I often do on uneventful days, I worried about Dash. I don't think his new mobility problems are caused by his pain pills. After being back on his original dose for a day, he is still falling down  a lot more than usual. We ordered him a brace for his left leg, but it remains to be seen if that will help. Clearly something needs to be done. Do we have him wear socks in the house now for added traction? Do we put down more rugs? Do we have him wear his harness 24/7 so it's easier to get him back on his feet when he falls? There are advantages and disadvantages to each alternative. I wish we could just do something to make him stronger.

Something very strange is happening with the roof. The surface is dry now, but every day between about 11 AM and 3 PM, the leak returns. This is the warmest period of the day and it is sunny outside, so I'm thinking this is temperature related. There is still some water trapped under the silicon coating. Maybe heat causes this residual water to expand and forces it inside? Who knows. I'm certainly no expert, but I don't think the roofers are either. Basically, this roof was an experiment that failed. The next roof will be of a more conventional design.

I'm repairing Dash's outer Ultra-Paws boots every day now. These boots would last a long time on a younger dog, but they weren't meant to be continuously dragged on pavement. Dash shuffles along now, barely lifting his rear legs at all. With every step he takes the boots drag on the ground. I've probably significantly improved sales for the Shoe Goo company, but I guess the repairs are worth it. Without the boots, Dash couldn't walk at all. His paws would be a bloody mess.

Oddly, even with all his mobility problems, Dash still loves his walks. They are the favorite part of his day. He is incredibly slow and stumbles a lot, but he smells every tree and bush along the way. The smells seem to provide a connection to a world he can no longer really participate in.

I can't wait for Monday to arrive so I can take my office chair up to Herman Miller to be repaired. I spend a lot of time in this chair. They didn't tell me how long the repair would take, but they did say they'd give me a loaner chair. The whole process sounds a lot like taking my car in for service. I've learned over the years that free loaners aren't really free. Why do I think that fixing the Aeron Chair is going to be expensive?

I've got a new problem to add to my list. There's sink hole in the driveway now. How did this happen? If it gets much worse, I'm going to have trouble getting my car out. In addition to a growing list of plumbers, roofers, and appliance repairmen, I'm going to need to find someone who can patch asphalt.

At least the weather was nice. I hope this continues. You never know here in Texas. This morning it looked like were going to have at least eight days of dry weather. This evening the forecast says it is going to rain next Friday. If the roofers come out Monday we may be able to get this leak fixed. If they ignore me for a few days, all bets are off. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live on the eighteenth floor of a luxury high-rise. My roof problems would vanish. Then I remember that Dash is incontinent.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3290

The repairs failed. The roof is leaking again. I heard the familiar sound of water dripping on the brick floors around 3 AM this morning. While I was getting a bucket positioned under the leak, Dash woke up and proceeded to poop on the floor. By the time I finished cleaning everything up, it was hardly worth going back to bed.

This was all very very disappointing to say the least. The rain was pretty intense last night, but I genuinely expected the roofers patches to work. Everything looked pretty good before the rain started. To make matters worse, the pumps I'd placed on the roof weren't very effective either. I'd hoped that the two pumps would significantly reduce the volume of water on the roof during a storm, but they quickly became clogged with leaves and debris from the trees and the flow of water through the hose gradually slowed to a trickle. At least the rain is gone for now. The weather was clear and cold when we woke up this morning. Dash got a nice walk, although he stumbled a lot. He's stumbling more now and it worries me. After breakfast I went up on the roof and began sweeping the standing water away. I've been up on the roof way too often lately and every bone in my body aches. I'm used to the pain in my shoulders and wrists, but today it felt like I'd developed tennis elbow as well. I'm way too old for this.

The leak stopped within an hour after I removed all the standing water. I still don't know how it is getting inside. I called the roofers and they said they'd be back next week. This is getting very irritating. I'm genuinely tired of fixing things. Unfortunately, with an old house you are always fixing things.

At least I was able to talk with a technician who said he can fix my chair. Unfortunately, he isn't available until the week of January 7. I guess the trash can I've been placing under the chair to keep the back upright will work until then.

Clearing the roof was tiring and I didn't feel like doing anything else today. Some things couldn't be avoided unfortunately. It was time to vacuum water from under the shower stall with the wet/dry vac and there was a big pile of laundry to do. Eventually I decided that enough was enough and I took a long nap with Dash.

The market is still insanely volatile. Within an hour or two this afternoon there was an eight hundred point swing. The Dow went from being down 600 points to closing up over 200 points. Just like yesterday, there was no real news. I guess volatility is just a sign of the times.

Maybe tomorrow will be uneventful. I think I'll go back to the hotel for breakfast. That will be nice and calm, even if the market isn't.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3289

The rain is here. It's been pouring for hours now. There is thunder and lightning. The phones are beeping with flood alerts. Dash is scared and confused. He can't crawl under desks and tables anymore and I think he feels vulnerable. I feel a bit vulnerable as well, because I don't know if the roof is going to start leaking again.

I've done all I can. Before the rain started I went up and walked the roof to makes sure all the rips and tears in the elastomer material had been sealed. The new silicon patches have had time to fully cure and they look pretty good. I've got both pumps running now. So far, so good. We'll see if the roof can weather the storm.

At least Dash got one walk today. He certainly didn't get an evening walk. I knew the rain was coming, so I tried to get all my errands finished before the storm arrived. I paid my property tax today, so there are no more bills for 2018. I contacted the manufacturer of my Aeron chair and found out that there are two authorized Herman Miller repair centers in the Dallas area. Both were closed today, but it looks like I'll be able to get the chair repaired whether it is under warranty or not.

I have no idea why the stock market went up 1000 points today. Of course I have no idea why it went down 600 points yesterday either. They say this extreme volatility is caused by algorithmic trading. These automated, computerized high frequency trades make up almost 70% of the overall trading volume these days. This is what happens when we let artificial intelligence take over our lives. It's only going to get worse. AI is here to stay. I hate to think what is going to happen when our highways are filled with driverless cars. There are unintended consequences to everything.

I wish I could go back to 1955. Cars were cool then. Most machines could be fixed by someone of average intelligence. A 30 point move in the Dow was considered a huge day on Wall Street. We certainly weren't backward in the 50's. We already had atomic energy and Wernher von Braun was planning to take us to the moon. The pace was slower though and that was a good thing. I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves by allowing technology to advance faster than we have.

Since I can't turn back time, I live in a crumbling mid-century modern house plagued by roof leaks. I guess I've benefited from modern advancements, but sometimes I wonder. My blog is really no different than the hand written diaries I used to keep long before the Internet was invented. I could actually type much better using a manual typewriter when I didn't depend on spell-check and had to start over whenever I made a mistake. I suspect that my life with dogs would be exactly the same no matter what era I was living in.

They say the skies will be clear tomorrow. I'll be a happy camper if the house is still dry. Dash is almost certain to poop in the bed tonight because he won't go outside in the rain. We'll see what happens. Hey, I made it through 2018. I'm not going to let a little poop and water bother me.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3288 - Christmas

Christmas is a mishmash of fading memories. I vaguely remember going to Christmas Eve services with my parents. I was raised a Lutheran, but haven't been inside a church in years. At one point I was Joseph in the annual church production of the nativity story. That was embarrassing. When I was nine or ten, I remember getting a red rocket for Christmas that was powered by a mixture of baking soda and water. I would shoot the thing off on a vacant football practice field used by the Arkansas Razorbacks and it would travel hundreds of feet in the air before a little parachute brought it back to earth. I'm surprised that I remember all this, because many later celebrations have vanished from my memory.

I wonder if I celebrated Christmas at all when I lived in Seattle. I lived there six of seven years and don't remember a single Christmas. I must have done something although I'm pretty sure I never put up a tree. We visited Janet's relatives in Pennsylvania for a while. I remember a lot of snow. Christmas didn't seem like I was a kid again until we got a dog.

All dogs seem to love Christmas. Ours have always loved to unwrap squeaky toys and treats under the tree. They always seem to know which presents are for them. For many years we used to go to the kennel and walk the rescue Dalmatians at Christmas. Before their Christmas walk we would feed each dog a large boiled chicken breast. They loved their Christmas meal. Those memories are among the most vivid that remain.

Christmas is much quieter now. Dash is old and sleeps most of the time. He still enjoys a tasty treat though and he definitely got his share today. Our treat was a delicious Christmas dinner. The smoked ham was great. So were the candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and cherry pie.

It never rained today but there is still rain in the forecast. I'm hoping we can postpone the rain a little longer. The longer the silicon coating on the roof has to dry, the more likely it is to work. I bleached the stained ceilings today, so I will have an easier time seeing if the leak is starting to return. Let's hope the roofers did as good a job as the appliance repairman did. The dryer works like a charm now.

I found a few YouTube videos about repairing Aeron chairs this afternoon. The procedure seemed straightforward, so I thought I'd give it a try. Not so fast. I never got past step one. I was supposed to remove four large screws attaching the chair's seat to the frame so I could reach the mechanism under the seat that controlled the chair's height and tilt. The screws were so tight that I couldn't get them to budge. I also found out that the Herman Miller warranty still exists, but that it is only good for a maximum of twelve years. I've had this chair a lot longer than twelve years. It was one of the first things I bought when I started the company.

There's a lot of leftover ham in the refrigerator. That's fine with me. I love ham and cheese sandwiches. I guess this means that Christmas is over for another year. It's going to seem weird without all those Lifetime Christmas Movies on the TV. It was a quiet and enjoyable day. As an added bonus, I just discovered that if I put the office trash can under my chair, I can keep the back from tilting back. Hey, there's always a solution if you look hard enough.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3287

Since there is still rain in the forecast for Christmas, I thought I'd get the roof as ready as I could. I went to the hardware store and got a new hose for the pump to replace the current hose that had developed a kink. I thought the container the roofers left on the porch was some silicon material I could use to make emergency repairs. Unfortunately, it was just an empty container that they didn't bother to throw away. I thought there might be just enough elastomer material in the bottom of the bucket to fill the one remaining hole the roofers forgot. Jeez. I shouldn't be allowed near this stuff. I always make a mess. Even though I was very careful, I got some of the sticky silicon on my hands. I managed to fill the hole, but then later in the day I accidentally stepped in the still wet patch while I was changing the hose on the sump pump. I ruined a pair of cheap shoes and messed up my patch. Fortunately, there was just enough elastomer material left in the bucket to repair the hole again. I don't think I accomplished much, but at least I made an effort.

Dash had me worried today. For a while we wasn't putting weight on one of his rear legs. Did he tear an ACL? Has the neurological damage in his legs gotten worse? It was hard to tell. We got a treat he likes to see if he would follow us to get it. When we was distracted by the treat, he started walking normally again. We shortened his walk this evening and watched carefully to see if started limping. Dash did fine. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether we're pushing Dash too hard, or whether the exercise he's getting is beneficial. His condition is definitely getting worse, but he's going down hill slowly. We were dealing with a lot of the same problems last Christmas.

Last Christmas Dash was already having trembling spasms where he would start shivering violently for about ten minutes. The odd shivering spasms continue, but they haven't gotten much worse. His legs have gotten weaker, but he still does pretty well when he's moving forward. Dash has no reverse gear anymore. When he tries to back up, he falls over. The only thing that has dramatically changed during the past year is the incontinence. Dash is pooping all over the place these days. It's not all bad news though. We think the blood clot in his heart has actually gotten smaller or might have even disappeared this year. We have one more echocardiogram planned for January, just to make sure.

One benefit of my broken desk chair is that I have to sit up straight now. I have a tendency to lean back and slouch as I type, which is probably what broke the Aeron chair's tensioning spring in the first place. This new state of affairs may be great for my posture, but I'm definitely going to have to get this chair fixed. I'm a sloucher and my favorite chair just isn't comfortable anymore.

My financial condition doesn't feel very comfortable either. The stock market took another tumble today. It was a pretty dramatic sell off, considering that the market wasn't even open all day. I hope this downturn isn't as bad as 2007, but it's hard to tell at this point. There's certainly a lot of uncertainty in the world. I hope sanity returns in 2019, but I have my doubts. I spend so much time worrying about Dash and the roof that I might not even notice the apocalypse anyway.

Rain or shine, we're looking forward to a pleasant Christmas. Presents aren't a big deal anymore, but I'm still hoping that the roofers left me a gift. A roof that doesn't leak when it rains would be great. A dog that didn't poop in the bed on Christmas morning would be pretty nice too.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3286

There were only two people at the gym when I arrived this morning. This is a huge facility with a basketball court, a running track, and an Olympic sized swimming pool, so it's always weird to see the place so empty. Maybe everybody had Christmas plans. My own plans seldom change, so I hope this gym is still around five years from now. The giant hospital chain that owns the place could easily decide that it wasn't worth keeping the lights on for two people.

The weather was clear and cold today. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There wasn't even much dew on the ground when we walked Dash this morning, so I felt like the the silicon coating on the roof might actually have a chance to dry properly. After breakfast, I went up and took a look and was mildly disappointed that falling leaves had become stuck in the elastomer as it was drying. The crew also missed a spot, but it wasn't in a critical location. Hopefully, we'll be ready for the next band of thunderstorms that are headed our way.

A spring broke in my Aeron Chair today and the back no longer stays upright. Damn. When I bought this chair many years ago, they were guaranteed for life. I've had the chair repaired twice by Herman Miller, but the last time was well over ten years ago. Even back then, the lifetime guarantee was becoming the stuff of myth. It was kind of like the legendary JC Penny battery. A few people knew of the guarantee, but nobody had actually seen a chair that qualified. I think my serial number is low enough, but I lost my purchase receipt long ago since I bought the chair right after it was introduced in the early 1990's. I wonder if it is even worth the effort to try and get another free repair?

Dash's poop stayed on the puppy training pads last night, but then later in the day he pooped on the carpet in my office. I don't know why it never even occurred to me that the danger of an accident was just as real during the day. I guess I'm going to need to place a puppy pad under him at all times now. When he wakes up from a nap, it seems to take a lot more effort for him to get up. Sometimes this extra effort causes him to poop. There are different techniques to cleaning the bricks, the carpet, and the bedding. I'm becoming an expert at all three.

I listened to a show about big data on the way to the way to the gym where a researcher had compared the results of large scale surveys with Google searches during the same period of time. His conclusion was that everyone lies when taking a survey because we lie all the time. Even though the surveys were anonymous, people want others to think well of them. We tend to say we voted even when we didn't and tend to say we care even when we don't. Conversely, there is no incentive to lie when you are looking for something on Google. If you lie, you won't find what you were looking for. So, I guess Google knows what we are really thinking, but the politicians don't. Sounds about right to me.

I felt like taking a nap when I came home from the gym, but I vacuumed the house instead. Hey, I put a few more steps on the Fitbit that way. Sundays are often 20,000 step days. I wonder if staying active just to get a higher Fitbit number is a subtle form of lying? Who am I kidding? Everybody knows I prefer napping to vacuuming.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2268

Dot got sick during the night and threw up. By morning, she'd thrown up three times, although it was mostly just bile and water. This happened about a month ago as well. The first time she threw up like this, I was convinced that she drank too much water while she was walking in the underwater treadmill. She hasn't been to water therapy this week though, so something else is going on. We didn't feed Dot any breakfast this morning, but by noon she seemed back to normal again. So far, she has held down her dinner and doesn't appear to be uncomfortable. We didn't give Dot her monthly heartworm pill today because I was afraid she'd throw it up. I'm sure waiting a few days until she's back to normal again won't hurt.

Somehow while I was lifting Dot up last night and changing her bedding I managed to throw my back out. I'm not sure what I did, but I've been in pain ever since. I've done this before and it's usually because I don't lift things properly using my knees. Jeez, my knees are in worse shape than my back. By the time I'd washed all the rugs and blankets that Dot had soiled and finished my morning smoothie, I was ready to go back to bed. My back still hurts, but hopefully if I can avoid lifting things and manage to get a good night's sleep, I'll feel better tomorrow.

When it looked like Dot was stable and wasn't going to throw up any more, I went to the bank and stopped on the way home to pick up another bottle of laundry detergent. The big bottles of Tide aren't lasting nearly as long as they used to with the washing machine in constant use. Today I washed four large blankets and two medium sized rugs. It never ends.

It was a long day. I shuffled around from room to room, trying not to aggravate whatever I'd done to my back. Strangely, the only time my back didn't hurt was when I took Dash on his evening walk. Sitting in a chair at the computer was the worst. My Aeron Chair is usually quite comfortable, but not today. Luckily, there wasn't that much to do. I had some minor website updates to make, but that was about it. There's a new article to write, but I don't need to start on that until tomorrow.

The road construction in the neighborhood is finished and everything is quiet again. All the construction equipment has disappeared and the road looks pretty much like it did before, except that there are no potholes anymore. I'm still surprised that it took over a month to fix this short stretch of road, but have to admit that the end result looks pretty nice.

Dot's physical therapy moves to a new day tomorrow. From now on out, we'll be doing our acupuncture and water therapy sessions on Wednesday afternoon instead of Thursday morning. I didn't suggest this change, but I welcome it. It should be easier to get Dot ready right after lunch rather than in the morning when she naturally likes to sleep. Hopefully, she'll sleep well tonight. We definitely don't need another night like last night.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1448

I wonder if any of you would even notice if I occasionally substituted a post from a previous year for my daily missive? Pride prevents me from doing this, but to tell the truth, I wouldn't know the difference myself. The days all run together. After 25 years of walking a succession of Dalmatians in the park while writing a steady stream of endlessly similar advertising messages, I not only forget what day it is, I forget what year it is.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't enjoy days like today. I just have trouble telling them apart. The falling leaves look the same as they always do in early December. The dogs still remind me that it's time for dinner precisely at 4:30 PM every day. The Version 14.1.4 of Microsoft Word that I opened to complete this morning's writing assignments seems remarkably similar to the very first version I bought for my Mac in 1989. Jeez, I've been sitting in the same Herman Miller Aeron Chair for so long that I've worn out three of the comfortable mesh chair backs.

Today certainly wasn't a day to break the mold. I came up with an interesting new landing page for a very old website that I initially designed in 1997. I wrote another article about luxury goods. Before the end of the year, I will have written over 500 of these articles. I fix my oatmeal and fruit. I make the bed. I count the hours and I wonder why.

For diversity, I had a Greek salad instead of my usual Kale. The dogs and I walked over a small hill instead of around it. Even though there was a pretty sunset, I took a picture of a leaf instead. This is really all the diversity I need. I'm going to the gym tomorrow. I'll make some oatmeal with strawberries again for breakfast. I'll watch the business channel and check my stocks while I'm eating. The dogs will sleep most of the day. David Byrne said it best way back in 1981. "Same as it ever was..."

Gretta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day