Day 4450

Dawn got a bath today. It seemed like a good day for a bath since it was unseasonably warm. Also Dawn has been rolling in what is left of the backyard grass a lot and was getting pretty dirty. It's hard to keep the bed clean when a dirty dog likes to spend the day there. Dawn goes into full tilt drama queen mode when we go to the self-bathe place. She hates getting a bath. All our dogs have been this way even though they feel better afterwards. I guess I understand. I've gotten to the point where I don't like getting wet either.

It's hard to believe the weather we've been having. Every day is completely different. Today it got up to 80 degrees. The air conditioner in our house came on and I wore a t-shirt on my long walk. I probably should have worn shorts. We have had years where it snowed on the 1st of March. This definitely wasn't one of them.

I thought my little WiFi hotspot was going to go dead today, but I tried it and it still worked. I re-read the letter I got from T-Mobile and it turns out that they aren't discontinuing 3G service until July. I'm a little confused why I even got the letter. I always thought my hotspot was a 4G device. I wonder if I even need the hotspot anymore. It was useful when I traveled a lot, but those days might be over. I probably still need some sort of alternate way to connect to the Internet though. We still get the occasional power outage.

Today was not a good day for foot pain. My discomfort seems to vary just as much as the weather. Maybe I overdid it yesterday.  Who knows. At any rate I had to cut my walk short this afternoon. It was a shame because it was such a nice day. I was able to complete three miles, but just barely. I really need to order some Hoka boots even if they have discontinued the style I really wanted. I'm not even sure the boots will help, but if I get them I will feel like I'm making an effort.

It looks like we have four new dogs in the Dalmatian Rescue program. Janet heard that the dogs arrived today. They are all at the vet now getting checked out. Depending on their condition, they will probably be at the kennel sometime next week. We haven't had this many dogs in the program for quite a while. I'm looking forward to meeting the new guys. There will be lots of pictures that will need to be taken.

There's a new study out that says daily walks may significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. This is good news for me. I walk so much that my brain may actually be improving. On the downside, my feet are probably getting ruined. I guess you've got to pick your poison. If I were still lifting weights at the gym I'm be ruining my knees and shoulders instead. I don't know how I ever used to be able to walk Dot and Dash at the same time. When they were young they were a handful. Now, I'm always telling Dawn to slow down because I have a hard time keeping up with her. I still believe that you've got to keep moving even if that means moving a lot slower.

It's hard to believe it's March already. February went by in a flash. I hope we have an early Spring. After today's nice weather, it would be a shame to see Winter return. You never know about March though. Anything can happen in March.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3511

We went and met the new boy today. Rolly is a sweet four year old male who seemed like he'd been living on the streets for a while. He was skinny and has heartworms. If you made any sudden movements he flinched and moved away from you. Once he decided that we were OK and didn't want to hurt him, he was extremely gentle and friendly. Rolly wasn't interested in chasing a ball, but he loves treats. As soon as he puts on a few pounds and we treat his heartworms, this dog is going to make a wonderful companion for some lucky family.

The rest of the crew was in fine form. Treasure has perfected her roll over trick. Charlie can now catch his treats in mid air. And Hank wanted to make sure we knew he was the fastest. The kennel staff treats our dogs really well. They are all more relaxed than when they initially arrived. You can tell with each passing week that they are becoming well socialized canine citizens.

It's still extremely hot and humid. With the exception of Rolly who actually seemed to enjoy being outdoors, all the Dalmatians wanted to stay inside. Who could blame them. I should have stayed inside myself today. I probably keep walking because I can't think of anything better to do. I'm hooked on getting as many steps as I can too. It's weird that a little band on my wrist controls my day.

My memory is better than I thought it was. I've been trying to memorize things I see on my daily walks and I'm surprised at the level of detail I've been able to retain. I know what signs say now before I approach them. I remember the street numbers on people's houses. When little things change, I notice now. It's just a silly game, but maybe it will prevent me from getting Alzheimer's someday.

The AT&T crew still hasn't showed up to bury my fiber optic cable. The roofer hasn't showed up with his long promised bucket of silicon material either. For the moment I don't feel like adding to this list of suppliers who are ignoring me by calling the electrician. I may have to though. The security light in the back yard still won't stay on all night. All these things are irritating, but none of them really matter. Maybe things don't get done because I seldom get mad. It's a waste of energy to get mad about most things.

Tomorrow I'll update the Dalmatian Rescue website, adding Rolly and marking several other dogs as adopted. I guess I could do this tonight, but it's getting late and I'm ready for bed. I need something to do tomorrow anyway. I don't think I'll be watching the business channel during breakfast. I'd rather enjoy my meal. Something tells me that today's nasty selloff is going to continue. It's probably best not to turn on the TV at all. There's no good news anywhere these days.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3388

I'm glad I never had a parent with Alzheimer's to take care of. Now that Dash is showing signs of dementia, it's easy to see what a monumental task this could be. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether Dash's problems are physical or mental. I suspect that is usually a combination of both. Dash gets confused on his walks and sometimes reverses direction for no apparent reason. We end up walking in circles occasionally. There are no regular mealtimes anymore. Breakfast can be at noon and dinner can be at midnight. Dogs are creatures of habit and I think it bothers Dash that he can't always remember his old habits. I wish I could help, but I can't always remember my old habits either. I do what I can. I make sure he takes his pills, gets enough food, and has a little exercise. Most of Dash's day is spent sleeping.

I never realized that half of my blog readers came from Google+. Now that the platform is gone, so are the readers. I guess it all makes sense. I had over 30,000 followers on Google+ at one time. Most of these people were photographers or loved photography, but some of them must have become blog readers. I'd almost forgotten what a great place Google+ was for photographers in the early days. You could actually have conversations with and get tips from some very well known photographers. I learned a lot.

I think the Covenia is working. The open sores on the underside of his muzzle are already starting to heal. I think the loose flaps of skin on the sides of a dogs mouth are called flews, but I keep wanting to call them lips. I guess dogs don't really have lips. Since Covenia targets bacteria on the skin, I'm not sure how well it will work with Dash's periodontal disease. Bacteria under the gum line, especially under the teeth can be very hart to eradicate.

I'm getting discouraged with my attempts to liquidate my collections. I've spent so much restoring my vintage synthesizers that I probably won't make any money at all when they eventually sell. The same thing is true for an Ellsworth Kelly print I had an art conservator restore. She did a fantastic job, but the print is expected to go under the hammer at auction for about the same price as I spent restoring it. I thought the vintage guitars would go quickly, but that hasn't been the case. One guitar sold quickly but the buyer changed his mind and convinced the dealer to let him exchange it for a different guitar. I'm still waiting for the guitar to sell. The main problem with the train collection is that nobody knows what a train is anymore. Old men still buy these things, but there are fewer and fewer of them left. I've consigned my collection with one of the best dealers in the entire country, but sales are still very slow.

I wish sleep would restore Dash's energy. He certainly sleeps a lot. Unfortunately, he still seems to be getting weaker. We had a real problem on our walk this morning. He was determined to keep going, but I could tell he was getting tired. I tried several times to cut the walk short and return to the house, but Dash refused to turn around. He is very stubborn. It was almost like his brain and his body weren't on the same page. When we eventually made it home, Dash was exhausted.

Somebody parked their car where I usually take my trash on Thursday night. Little things like this bother me. I'm superstitious about the garbage truck and always want to make sure that my trash is in exactly the same place so the driver will see it. One more thing to fret about tonight.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3376

It has become so obvious Dash is old and tired that people are stopping me on our walks to tell me stories about their old dogs. Every week I hear about dogs that have recently passed away or are having difficulty walking. Despite all the stories, we see very few other older dogs on our walks. When the weather is bad, Dash is often the only dog walking at all. I feel sorry for the old dogs who just get a towel under their belly occasionally to help them go out in the yard and pee. With a little help, a lot of these dogs could still lead a relatively normal life.

I don't think Dash even realizes that I am helping him walk. He can still move his legs. He just isn't strong enough to fully support his own weight. I can feel his legs moving through the leash. I provide just enough support to keep him from sinking, while letting his legs move naturally. It took three dogs to perfect the technique, but I think I've gotten pretty good at walking disabled dogs.

One thing I can't do is give Dash more energy or help him think clearly. He's starting to become senile and sometimes appears lost or confused on our walks. You wonder when senility becomes dementia and if dementia can turn into Alzheimer's? When Dash's mind goes blank, you've just got to be patient. Eventually he clicks into gear again and off we go. I think being outside helps. Dogs have such an amazing sense of smell that the abundant smells in the park reconnect him to the world. I think he could take his walks blindfolded because he's really just moving from one smell to the next. The smells are a trail of breadcrumbs that take him away and then bring him back home.

My accountant called today to let me know that he had some preliminary results on my taxes. I was really disappointed to learn that despite my paltry earnings this year, I still owed money to the IRS. I think old people get screwed. Your social security gets taxed as income. Required distributions from your IRA account are taxed as income. If you planned ahead and managed to save something, your dividends and interest are taxed as well. It's ironic that when my business was booming I paid less in taxes than I do now. When you have lots of clients, there are lots of business expenses you can deduct. It goes without saying that without clients or business activity, there are very few expenses  either.

It rained again today. I'm glad that Dash still got to take his walks. I'm not so glad about going up on the roof again. I'll wait until the forecast clears, but the key to keeping the leaks at bay is getting the standing water removed as soon as possible. The pumps help, but I've always got to go up on the roof and finish the job. I'm surprised that I still haven't gotten any bids to replace the roof.  Apparently I'm not a priority. The same thing happened the first time I put a new roof on the house. Since the house is small, roofers are always more interested in larger and more lucrative projects.

I should go to the gym tomorrow since I missed my workout last week. I'm not getting much exercise walking Dash. I guess my arms are getting stronger but the walks certainly don't provide much of a cardio workout. We move at a snail's pace these days. I doubt that my heart rate changes at all.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2482

I had a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for breakfast. That's as close to a walk on the wild side as you're going to get from me. I was ready for something different today. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, I was already late. The garbage truck failed to pick up my trash again and I had to load the trash bags into the car and look for a dumpster. When that task was finished, I returned to the house and did my best to get Dot to poop. I knew that she would go in the house as soon as I left for the restaurant, and I didn't want any more bad news this morning. I walked her around and let her smell things for a long, long time and eventually she did go. Maybe I had the sandwich because it felt closer to lunch by the time I finally got underway. A BLT actually makes a great breakfast. I love bacon for breakfast. I like toast. I often eat tomatoes for breakfast as well. I think I'll try this again.

I don't know why I'm having so much trouble with my garbage. The robotic arm on the truck picks up my can and lifts it above the hopper, but nothing comes out.  The driver just assumes that he's done his job and drives away. Maybe I need a new can. My can does look a bit different than a lot of the neighbors cans. I guess I'll have to call the city and complain. Then I'll have to wait months and months before they deliver a new can to my house. It's frustrating. The recycling truck, which comes by later in the day, refuses to take my trash, since it is in the wrong color can. The recycling truck will only pick up trash from the blue cans. Gray cans are apparently off limits.

The new batteries I put in the lawn mower apparently aren't any good. I tried to mow the grass this afternoon and the mower died. I think the batteries are still under warranty, but now I have to drag them down to the battery store and get them replaced again. These aren't flashlight batteries either. They are big, heavy 24 volt batteries that are definitely supposed to last longer than three months. If it weren't for the fact that I used to have even more problems with gasoline powered mowers, I'd just give up on this electric mower.

Even though almost nothing went smoothly, it was a beautiful day. I wish Fall lasted a little longer. This is the only time of year when I can leave the windows open. Actually, I can't leave the windows open very long, or wasps will fly in the house, but it's the thought that counts. Dot enjoyed being out in the sunlight. She'll go outside and wander around aimlessly for a while, come back inside, go to her water bowl, and then repeat the process all over again. We'll go back and forth like this until she gets tired and then she'll eventually go to her bed and sleep. I wonder if dogs can get Alzheimer's? Dot's mind definitely isn't what it used to be. I have a lot of respect for anyone dealing with a loved one who has Alzheimer's Disease or dementia. It takes a lot of patience to understand someone who is not entirely there. Dot still has her lucid moments, but she's starting to remind me of my Dad as he got older.

It's been a long day. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm hoping that everyone else in the family is as tired as I am this evening. One of these days I'd like to wake up refreshed and ready to go.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2469

I find all this talk about the candidate's health amusing. These guys are my age. They may be healthy compared to other people approaching seventy, but they aren't thirty-five anymore. It's amazing how quickly the body starts to deteriorate when you approach seventy. My Dad was like John Wayne in his younger years, but between seventy and eighty, his decline was swift and debilitating. I'm starting to experience the ravages of time myself. I just don't understand why we nominated two people who are so old and so disliked. Didn't we learn anything from Ronald Regan? Many doctors and even his own son now say that he suffered from Alzheimers Disease while he was still in the White House. You'd think in a country of over 300 million people, we could find at least one decent, healthy person in their early 40's to run for president.

I certainly didn't see many healthy people this morning. When I took Dash on his morning walk, we  somehow found ourselves in the middle of one of those charity running events. We must have been at the tail end of the race, because there weren't many people actually running. There were a few Moms pushing strollers, but mostly we shared the trail with some very overweight folks who definitely shouldn't have been wearing yoga pants. I guess some of the bystanders thought Dash and I were in the race, because when we passed, I could hear them saying "Keep it up. You can do it." It was kind of embarrassing, since some of the fat people were beating us. They weren't stopping to pee on every tree though.

I had quite a bit of website work to do today. I guess working on weekends is considered normal now. I got everything finished, but it didn't leave me with a lot of time to do anything else. At least I got to sleep in late this morning. When there's no alarm clock, both dogs seem content to sleep until at least 7:30 AM. The only problem with sleeping longer it that I end up cutting things pretty close with getting Dot outside to pee in the morning. If she's still sleeping when I wake up, I get everything prepared for the race to the door. First I unlock and open the back door, put my shoes on, and then I wait. As soon as Dot starts to stir, I lift her up and guide her by her harness straight out the open door so that she'll hopefully pee outside. There is no margin for error. If I forget to unlock the door, she will pee in the living room while I'm fiddling with the lock. If I forget my shoes, I just have to go outside barefoot. Today, I was successful. Some days, I'm not.

I've grown to love the iPhone app that lets me do my grocery shopping without standing in the check out line. This app not only saves me time, it also save me a lot of needless aggravation. Now, I wish there were other apps that let me avoid people in my daily life. I wish there was an app that would tell me exactly when to leave the house in order to avoid traffic jams and irritating drivers. I wish there was an app that would tell me when the strawberries were fresh. I hate buying a package of strawberries and discovering a rotten, moldy strawberry hidden in with the others when I get home. An app that allowed me to buy clothes that fit without having to try them on first would be nice as well.

Dot is walking better today. The extra rest she's been getting seems to be helping. The only downside to extra rest is that it virtually guarantees that Dot will poop in her bed. When I anticipate that this is going to happen, I put a pad under her and take off her harness so it won't get soiled. Sometimes this works like a charm. Other times, Dot decides that she wants to get up again and go outside as soon as I get her harness off. Such is life.

I sorted through several months worth of unread bank and brokerage statements, medicare notifications, and reminders about upcoming events this afternoon. Why do people keep sending me these things? I have no interest in reading them anymore.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2214

I couldn't figure out why it was so dark when we got up this morning. As soon as I went outside, I knew the answer. The world was enveloped in a heavy fog. I love foggy mornings, but the dogs were a bit confused when they couldn't see ten feet ahead of them. The fog lifted quickly, but it was pretty while it lasted. As soon as we finished walking Dot and Dash, I took a camera down to the lake and tried to capture some pictures of the sailboats. If I had arrived twenty minutes earlier, I would have gotten some great photos, but the fog was already dissipating. Story of my life. It's hard to combine nature photography with walking dogs. I took a few pictures anyway and headed back up the hill to fix my breakfast.

Dot was very slow this morning on her walk, so it surprised me that she did so well at her physical therapy session. She was able to stay on the underwater treadmill for the full eighteen minutes and we were able to include a couple of intervals where she was walking at a higher speed. There's no way to predict how Dot is going to react anymore. Every day is a new day. Some days she is strong and full of energy and other days she hardly leaves her bed. I've come to realize that she can poop at any time with very little warning. She still seems happy though and that's all that counts.

My missing UPS package arrived today. According to the UPS website, it was never missing at all. They just added an extra day to the delivery schedule and said it was still on time. I guess that's one way to handle things. There never was any explanation about how a package could arrive both yesterday and today, but at least it wasn't broken. If I were busier and didn't have OCD, I'd never notice that the FedEx and UPS websites aren't always accurate. I probably wouldn't even track my packages at all. I'm convinced that people who spend too much time tracking things don't have enough on their plate. I track everything, but when I'm busy I can go for days without checking my UP fitness band or Apple Watch. When I'm not busy, I check these things all the time.

I don't know what's happening with my joints. I've had problems with my shoulder for ages and occasionally my knee goes out as well. Lately, I've started having problems with my right hip. I'm kneeling and standing all the time. I kneel down to get Dot's harness on and then stand up to walk her. I kneel down to make our low platform bed in the morning. I sit on the floor with Dot during her acupuncture sessions. It's disconcerting when you find yourself in a low crouching position and can't get up. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Getting old sucks. The last thing I need at this point is to be up on the roof and have my hip joint lock up on me. With all my aches and pains, I've still reluctant to have surgery though. There's a place for surgery, but I think it should be a last resort.

It's been impossible to get Dot to poop at night this week. Her internal schedule has changed. We'll take her outside and walk her around forever before we go to bed, but apparent she isn't ready to go yet. She seems to prefer doing her business at 3 AM now. In her bed. I've never slept soundly, but lately I'm sleeping even less than usual. I saw on TV yesterday that researchers now think that lack of sleep might cause Alzheimer's. I'm doomed. On the other hand, they say that writing every day is good for cognition. Sleep less, write more. That's my motto. Maybe everything will balance out in the end.

Vegas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1379

I thought I'd catch up on my bookkeeping today. I was sure that this little task would only take about thirty minutes, but it took hours. Oops! I had mistakenly entered a few items incorrectly in Quickbooks this month and I couldn't remember what they were. Eventually, I discovered my mistakes and got everything to balance again, but the whole process was a lot harder than it should have been. I sure hope that this isn't how Alzheimer's begins.

I have a new theory about how Dash injured his leg yesterday. I watched him closely on our morning walk to see if there was still any sign of a limp. The thing that struck me was how hard Dash scratches the ground after he lifts his leg and pees. A lot of male dogs scratch the ground with their rear legs. Dash does this ritual with all four legs. Dot and I have to make sure we're out of the way, or we'll get sprayed with dirt and grass. Sometimes he hits a hard patch of ground and one of his legs gets momentarily stuck. Watching him in action this morning, it seemed like he could have easily strained or sprained a muscle yesterday. Just a theory anyway.

My phone is starting to ask me to update to IOS 7. I don't really want to upgrade, since I'm perfectly happy with IOS 6. I'm probably out of luck though. I noticed this morning that IOS 7 had already downloaded itself through the cloud to my phone and is just waiting for me to install it. Sooner or later, I'll click on the wrong thing by mistake and IOS 7 will start installing itself whether I like it or not. That's kind of the way Apple is these days. You get accustomed to doing things Apple's way, or else.

The members of this business networking group I've started going to on Wednesday mornings encourage you to wear "Business attire" to meetings. For me, that would be a bathrobe, but to fit in, I've started digging my old suits and dress slacks out of the closet. Since I've lost so much weight this year, almost none of these clothes fit anymore. They're all too big. After a lifetime of seeing my clothes gradually become too small, I never anticipated something like this happening. I guess I could take some of the nicer clothes to the tailor and get them altered, but I'm not sure if there would be any point to this. As soon as I got the suits taken in, I'd start gaining weight again.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day