Day 4828

Dawn is continuing to do well. We took her on two short walks today and there were no problems. Tomorrow she finishes her pain meds, and we're hoping that she continues to be comfortable. It's been several days since Dawn has stumbled or fallen. Her neck is still a little swollen, but that looks better too. With any luck, life can return to normal soon. It's going to be a while before I'm comfortable leaving her alone on the bed, but we can always gate her in the hallway with a dog bed if we both have to be out of the house at the same time.

I took my long walk early today because I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. I had to cut a mile off the walk to meet my appointment on time, but I still got my steps. It was chilly and overcast today but there was no rain. I'm getting bored making this five mile trek day-after-day, but it's still a lot easier than driving to the gym. It's surprising how quickly everything has turned green. It's starting to look like Spring has arrived.

My trip to the dermatologist was uneventful. Every six months the doctor freezes the keratosis spots on my face and scalp with liquid nitrogen and they always grow back. The keratosis is so minor that I tend to forget it is there. The doctor says it is important to monitor these areas though because they can turn into basal cell carcinoma. I've been going to this doctor for five years now and nothing has happened, so I hope things stay this way.

Janet's heart doctor wanted her to get a Kardia Mobile Heart Monitor to track her heart rate while exercising. She's supposed to send the results to her doctor periodically, but so far neither of us can figure out how to export the EKG files from the Kardia Mobile and attach them to an e-mail message. Usually I'm very good with devices like this, but I'm stumped so far. It probably doesn't help that something is wrong with my own e-mail account, so it's been hard to test the thing. I can usually receive e-mail just fine but I'm having trouble sending anything. I spent over an hour this morning talking with someone in a call center but got nowhere. Tech support seems to be getting worse and worse. I keep getting a message saying that my mail server has an invalid certificate, but the hosting company says everything's fine. Things were so much easier when you could actually talk to a software engineers yourself. Dealing with offshore call centers is an exercise in frustration.

It's weird having a non-functional e-mail account. I'm not working anymore, but I still have this need to stay connected. What if I miss a message about my press credentials at Kennedy Space Center? What if I need to change something quickly on a rescue website? How can I check on things I've ordered online? This is frustrating. Things seem to be getting worse so it looks like I'm going to have to deal with the call center people again. Oddly, this blog still seems to work fine.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3606

My schedule was a little different today. I skipped breakfast because I had an early morning doctor's appointment. They always want you to fast when blood work is required so I just took a quick shower and headed for my appointment. My health appears to be good, but there are always a few surprises when you take a physical. My doctor wants me to see a dermatologist about a rough patch of skin on my face that I've ignored for years. I've always thought that the small scaly patch was harmless Keratosis, but he wants to make sure it isn't a Basal Cell Carcinoma instead. He also wants me to see an orthopedic specialist about my shoulder. I've done this before, but the doctor said it's time to revisit things. "You might not think your shoulder is getting worse," he told me, "but it is."

He did say I was more than healthy enough to spend time in a remote area like McDonald Observatory. I was more than a little envious when he told me that he'd been to the observatory several times and had even taken his grandchildren on a Special Observing Night. They had perfectly clear skies on the day he went.

I wish I hadn't let the doctor convince me to get a flu shot and my second of two required pneumonia shots. I got one shot in each arm and now I am very sore. Maybe the flu shot wasn't a bad idea. I seldom get them, but always worry about getting sick when we are taking Christmas pictures and I am around a lot of people. The reason I seldom get sick is that I'm seldom around people at all.

When I returned home, I noticed that there was still fresh fruit in the refrigerator, so I made myself a lunch smoothie. This was exactly the same as a breakfast smoothie except that I drank it at noon. I had a choice of taking a long walk today or clearing the water off the roof. I'm a pragmatic person, so I opted for clearing away all the standing water before it rains again. It's amazing how much water remains on the roof after the pumps have done their thing. The good news is that the patches I've made directly over the office appear to be holding. There have been no leaks so far. The bad news is that I'm still finding other areas that need to be repaired.

I took the money I made selling my guitar to the bank and picked up the banner at the printer. This time the printer said they would save the file in case I needed it again. This is what happens when you sit on things too long. The printer lost the file and I lost the banner. All is well now. I can't remember clearly, but I think it cost me less to print this banner now than it did ten years ago.

There was no time for a long walk today, but I did take a short walk through the neighborhood before Janet and I went out for dinner. A lot of houses have been updated. I have a feeling that mine might be one of the only ones that hasn't been touched. I still can't decide whether to drive to Palestine tomorrow to seeing Boy 4014 arrive. It's an amazing looking old steam train, but it's just a train and I don't like to drive. Janet's up for the trip. I'll sleep on the idea and see how I feel in the morning.

I applied for launch credentials at Kennedy Space Center again. I'm not quite ready to give up on this idea of becoming a space journalist yet. Since some of you enjoyed seeing Spot, I've featured him again. What an amazing dog he was.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day