Day 3067

Janet is back. I think Dash and I did OK on our own, but taking care of this dog is definitely a team effort. We certainly had our hands full today. Dash isn't eating again. It was really hard to get him to eat enough this morning so he could safely take his pills. He didn't finish the rest of his breakfast until around 3 PM. Right around sunset, his appetite seemed to return, but then he threw up everything right after we finished a short evening walk. It is really frustrating that there doesn't appear to be a solution to this ongoing problem. He'll seem fine for a week or two and then he'll start throwing up again. I guess we could keep him on the Cerenia anti-nausea pills indefinitely, but there's a downside to that as well.

Dash has reached the point where everything he does can have serious side effects. The antibiotic he's taking to clear up the skin infection on his lip appears to be working, but one of the side effects is vomiting. Do we continue the antibiotic? Who knows. I'll contact his vet and see what she thinks. Dash sleeps so much now that he really needs the limited walks he gets to maintain his mobility. He's so fragile though that every time we walk I worry that he is going to injure himself. Maybe I worry too much, but I think I'm just being realistic. Dash is a very high maintenance dog.

I was sad to hear that Tom Wolfe died this week. You could not read something by Tom Wolfe and not be influenced by it. He was one of the most prolific and talented writers I have ever encountered. To this day, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and Bonfire of the Vanities remain in my top ten list. John Fowles is gone too. I used to eagerly await anything new from these two authors. Maybe John Kennedy Toole would be right up there with them if he hadn't committed suicide before A Confederacy of Dunces was published. I wonder who the amazing writers are these days? Sadly, I don't read much anymore.

My friend in Kentucky has finished making an inventory of my collection. Seeing everything on paper makes me realize that I had assembled a much better collection than I realized. I was well suited to being a collector. I had good taste and enjoyed the process of finding a needle in a haystack. It's weird though. The process of collecting had a lot more meaning for me than the objects themselves. Once I stopped collecting things, the objects lost their meaning. Over time, the collections just became a lot of dusty, useless stuff.

I've got to find something to replace all the things that kept me so busy when I was younger. How did I ever find the time to do so much reading, collecting, and exploring new boundaries? Today I'm just tired. A lot of my friends have died. And every time I turn on the TV, I realize that the world has gone to hell in an handbasket. I'm still curious though. That's why I keep writing. Maybe that's why you keep reading too.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3025

Today started out well. It wasn't raining when I woke up. I had a tasty frittata for breakfast. Dash seemed relatively normal and took a decent walk. I even found time to go to the storage warehouse and retrieve a few rugs that could be place near Dash's food and water bowls to keep him from slipping. The last thing on my list was to go to the AT&T store and look at an iPhone SE, but the salesperson told me that the phone had already been discontinued.

This didn't seem right, especially since the Apple website still said the phone was a current model. I fed Dash a light lunch and then headed back to the same Apple store I visited yesterday. Since I'd already decided to replace my current phone with this inexpensive model, I didn't want to see it discontinued right in front of my eyes. I probably would have waited to get the phone if the AT&T folks hadn't got me worried. To save a further trip back to this store, I got the phone and decided to install the SIM card at home and activate the phone myself.

As you might expect, this process took the rest of the day. I slowly and methodically transferred my files and looked up passwords I'd forgotten. Somehow, my watch became unpaired and I had to reinstall the watch software. That took a while. I lost today's steps on my fitness tracker and some of my photos didn't transfer, but as software updates go, it wasn't all that bad.

As the day progressed, the sky got darker and darker. Dash also started to become unsteady on his feet again. I strategically placed the rugs I'd brought home, but Dash never seemed to stand on them the way I'd imagined. I may have to go back to the storage warehouse and get some more rugs. Even though Dash looked a little unsteady, he still seemed hungry, so around 3:30 PM I fed him part of his dinner. This probably was a mistake. Less than an hour later, Dash became frantic, went outside and ate grass, and then threw up. This was unexpected. Usually, after finishing a course of the Cerenia pills, he is able to hold down his food for almost a month.

I hate to give Dash more Cerenia so soon, but if he throws up again we probably have no choice. For the moment, Dash seems normal again. We delayed his evening pills a bit to ensure he was able to hold down food. I really don't know what to do at this point. Dash continues to bounce back after each episode, but he's never quite a strong as he was before. He seems to take two steps forward and three steps back. We have another major evaluation scheduled at the cancer center next week, but I'm not sure the vet will be able to offer us much help.

The thunderstorm I was expecting last night finally arrived toward dinner time. I think people living to the North of us got the worst of the storm, but we still got some wind and rain. I need to remember to move some living room furniture and bring the bucket in before I go to bed tonight, just in case the leak reappears. I don't think we got enough rain to cause roof problems, but you never know.

It's been a hectic day. All is well though. Dash is calm and took his evening pills without incident. I wish I could convince him to sleep on the floor, because it's becoming harder and harder for him to climb on the bed. Even the special step we installed doesn't help much. So far, my new phone seems exactly like my old phone. The SE is supposed to be much faster, able to run the latest software, and can take better pictures, but I can't tell any difference.

I've almost given up on getting a good night's sleep, but maybe I'll get lucky tonight. Dash needs to rest and so do I.

Paxton is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3023

Dash is finally starting to stabilize. He's still weak, but his eyes are bright and he's showing an interest in his surroundings again. It's weird how vestibular disease works. Even severe episodes seem to subside over time. I'm sorry that Dash has to go through all this, but it would be much worse if lost his ability to bounce back.

We took it easy today while gently trying to reestablish some of our regular routines. Dash is still eating boiled chicken breasts, but his appetite is improving. We were even able to take a walk this morning. Our progress was slow, but I could tell that Dash enjoyed being outdoors again. He wasn't panting or in any kind of distress, so I was happy to let him inch along, smelling every bush along the way.

After I finished my breakfast, I picked up some more Cerenia at the vet so we'd be ready for the next vestibular episode. A four day course of this anti-nausea drug really seems to help combat the vertigo and unsteadiness associated with vestibular disease. I wish there was something I could do about the weakness in his rear legs. That's a symptom that doesn't seem to be going away.

While I was out this morning I picked up my tax documents at the accountant and signed my return. I don't know why I bother to keep all these documents. I've got decades of files in the storage warehouse that I know I'll never need again. Even if I did need them, I probably couldn't find them.

I'm still eating Easter leftovers for dinner. Even though the ham wasn't too salty, I'm starting to feel like I've reached my yearly quota of salt. I've been watching my salt intake for years now and I don't have much of a tolerance for the stuff anymore. I wish that food wouldn't go bad in the refrigerator. A couple of slices of ham every month wouldn't hurt anything. I'm pushing my luck though eating it every day.

I don't understand the stock market at all anymore. This morning everyone was in a panic about tariffs. By mid afternoon, the crisis was forgotten. Oops. Never mind. Nothing had changed, but that didn't prevent a 700 point swing during the day. All this insane volatility makes me want to go out and buy something tangible that I can hold in my hand. Maybe I should get that iPhone after all.

Two of our friends in the neighborhood lost their dog to meningitis recently. I know how they feel, but I don't really know how to express it. I've felt this way ever since we lost Dot. It's so terribly sad to lose a pet after you've done everything you possibly can to save them. You just feel helpless. Enjoy every day you have with your pet. They aren't with us nearly long enough. Rest in peace Bizzy. Everybody loved you.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2998

Thirty minutes after I finished bragging about how good Dash was doing last night, he threw up. It's hard to predict these things. I didn't see any of the usual signs of a vestibular event, so I have a feeling that Dash may have just eaten too much. He certainly seemed unusually hungry yesterday. At any rate, I got dressed, cleaned up the mess on the carpet, took Dash outside to make sure he wasn't going to throw up again, and then we all went back to bed.

That wasn't the only strange thing that happened last night. I woke up twice with cold sweats again. Maybe I overdid things yesterday as well. I thought my cold was completely gone. I hate to look up symptoms on Google because the results are so alarming. Evidently, night sweats can signal low blood sugar, cancer, heat attacks, and severe anxiety. Luckily, night sweats are also common when you have a cold or flue. I don't think it's a big deal, but it is irritating to have to change the sheets so often. If things don't return to normal soon, I can always call my doctor next week.

The weather was so warm today that the air conditioner came on. I wasn't expecting that. The good news is that the air conditioner still works. The bad news is that if this warm weather continues, our electric bill will start going through the roof again. I'm not a big fan of Winter, but it is nice to get a break from high electric bills for a while.

Since Dash seemed back to normal this morning, I didn't bother to give him a Cerenia pill. I think I need to save the anti-nausea medication for when there are clear signs of a vestibular event. It looks like periodic vomiting is going to be part of our life for the foreseeable future. At least it doesn't happen very often. A large portion of our house has brick floors. Why does Dash always vomit on the carpets? The mess would be so easy to clean up if he would just learn to throw up on the bricks. Jeez. Last night he would have only had to move ten feet to reach a safe, easy to clean area. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

I washed the car today because it was much easier than fixing Dash's rubber shoes. The protective shoes are getting pretty worn and it's time to reinforce them again with more tire patch material. I bought more Shoe Goo and a tire patch kit to make the repairs, but it's a messy job and I keep postponing it. Maybe tomorrow.

I've had this cold for a week now. That seems long enough. I do feel like I'm getting better, but I'm impatient to put this all behind me. I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow no matter how I feel. I'm not contagious and I definitely need the exercise.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2967

Someone has started throwing their trash in my garbage can. This shouldn't bother me, but it does. I always bag and seal my trash in big black trash bags. I have a neat and tidy bin. It just seems all wrong to see someone else's loose garbage inside this can. Since all my neighbors have their own cans, I'm beginning to think that this trash is coming from the strange new people I've seen coming and going from my neighbor's house recently. I may be wrong, but I think they've turned part of their home into an Airbnb rental. Jeez. I hope this isn't true. After I read an article about how Airbnb virtually destroyed Crested Butte for local residents, I haven't been a fan of this new form of lodging.

I wonder when I went from living on the cutting edge to being violently opposed to anything new? It must have been a gradual process, because I wasn't even aware that it was happening. These days I wonder why there isn't any good music anymore. I am baffled by all these ride sharing bicycles that have spread like kudzu vines through our city. I think social media addiction is as real as drug addiction and we would all be better off if we went back to living offline. I don't like globalism and think a factory in every small town would be much healthier than massive imports from China. Basically, I'm becoming a Luddite like my sister.

My Dad was kind of reactionary as he grew older, but I think I'm much worse than him. It's probably because I never had children. If you are a parent, you are forced to make an effort to see the world through a younger generation's eyes. Millennials seem much stranger to me than they do to friends of mine with millennial aged children of their own. Maybe everything is as it should be, but increasingly, life seems like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

I wonder how I'd view the world if I were younger myself? Maybe I'd be more tolerant. I'd probably be working in silicon valley. I'm a huge fan of Elon Musk and share his vision of a life on Mars. I can't imagine myself as a political person, but I could get excited about renewable energy and solar power. Anything that gives people more independence is a good thing. Maybe I'd do just fine as a millennial.

Growing younger isn't really in the cards, so I guess growing old gracefully is the next best thing. I get up every morning and try to make sure Dash has everything he needs. We're both grumpy old men now, but he is a good companion. We take our walks and build our days around mealtimes. It's not a bad life. I try not to panic about stock market fluctuations and I hope that Dash doesn't panic about his heartbeat fluctuations.

We had a good day today. Dash finished his entire breakfast after we returned from our morning walk and his appetite remained good for the rest of the day. The shivering episodes have subsided a bit too. Now that he's finished his four day course of Cerenia, I'm hoping that he will be stable for a while. The big event of the day was picking up some spicy Japanese Ramen for dinner. I picked up some new meds for Dash as well. We'll probably do something similar tomorrow.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2963

Dash wouldn't eat this morning. It took forever to get a minimal amount of food in him so it was safe to give his morning pills. Since it is critical that Dash always takes his phenobarbital on a regular basis to control seizures, a loss of appetite can be pretty dicy. Dash wasn't even interested in banana bread this morning, so we knew this was bad. We decided to give him a Cerenia pill, even though he wasn't showing obvious signs of nausea. Cerenia was really the only tool we had. Three hours later, he started eating again.

Nobody has ever explained how Dash's various symptoms are interrelated. Maybe they aren't. There are so many things that can go wrong with this dog and some of them are life threatening. To me, it is very stressful. My best guess is that the periodic eating disorders are related to his vestibular disease. Depending on how bad the vestibular event is, it can appear to be a stroke, a seizure, vertigo, or an upset stomach. Dash's worst vestibular seizure put him in intensive care for four days. Today's mild event just gave him an upset stomach. By mid-afternoon, he was back to his old self again.

While I was running my Saturday errands, I did some more appliance shopping. I learned that it would be a good idea if I just put a hold on things until President's Day. Evidently you can get some of the best appliance prices of the year during President's Day sales events. I guess it is a tradition to lower prices on refrigerators on President's Day. I'm happy to wait. I wasn't looking forward to buying a refrigerator today anyway.

Now that I'm more or less living on a fixed income, sales have become more important to me. I'll be going to the annual Super Bowl Sale at my favorite clothing store tomorrow. This is the only time when I can actually afford these clothes. I realize that when someone offers you 75% off on anything, they're just trying to get rid of old merchandise, but what do I care. When you're almost 70 years old, nothing ever goes out of style.

Dash has become very needy as he's growing older. Janet is at an animal rescue event tonight and Dash has been throwing a tantrum since she isn't around to sit in bed with him. This is what they do in the evening. Janet watches Netflix movies while Dash takes a nap. He's more than welcome to come in the office and nap while I write, but apparently that isn't good enough. He want's me to sit in the bed with him now.

When I was taking Dash out to pee this evening, I saw a guy lurking around in the dark. He seemed startled when he saw Dash and I and told me he was looking for his Airbnb rental. Given the state of the world today, the guy could have been completely legit. He also could have been a burglar. I told the man that nobody I knew in the neighborhood had turned their home into an Airbnb and he got in his car and left. I felt like telling him that it wasn't wise to go lurking around in the dark in a residential Texas neighborhood. It's a good way to get shot.

I still don't understand the popularity of Airbnb, Uber, and all those ugly Limebikes that are littered around town. If I take a Yellow Cab, or stay at a Holiday Inn, I know exactly what I'm getting. I suspect that I don't possess the level of trust required to participate in the sharing economy. It all seems like buying a pig in a poke to me.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2928

This is the time of year when TV stations create short retrospective tributes featuring famous people that have died during the past twelve months. Jeez, these aren't old people anymore. They're my age. Quite a few are even younger than me. How did this happen? I've seen these memorial segments for most of my life and with the exception of musicians who always seem to die young, I always remember these people as being my parent's age. Growing old kind of creeps up on you. One day you're young, and in the blink of an eye you're older than the actors they're showing on the year end memorial clips. I wish everybody were remembered like actors and musicians. My parents deserve to be remembered. So do all my neighbors who have passed away since I moved here. I wonder if I'll be remembered? Probably not. Nobody remembers anything very long these days.

I got a thank you letter from my sister today. She's old school and still sends hand written thank you notes. I probably shouldn't have gotten her a cookbook for Christmas since her chemo treatments give her nausea and she has little interest in eating. It's hard to break with tradition though. I've always given her cooking related things because she's loved cooking for most of her life. Maybe it was an optimistic gift. I can't really imagine her not cooking anymore.

I can't imagine Dash not walking anymore either. He still seems to enjoy his walks, but he's so slow now. The arctic cold front that has gripped most of the nation is headed our way and it kept getting colder by the hour. I was freezing on our afternoon walk, but Dash seemed fine. He actually took a longer walk than he normally does, pausing to sniff every bush along the way. I dressed warmly, but apparently not warmly enough. By the time we returned home I felt like I'd spent the afternoon in a deep freeze. I think I've lived in Texas too long. I don't know how northerners survive these temperatures.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is New Year's Eve. It just seems like yesterday when we were partying like it was 1999 and wondering if the Y2K bug was going to wipe out the world's computers.   Janet and I haven't gone out on New Year's Eve since I played in a band many years ago. Until recently, we always cracked open a bottle of champagne and toasted the New Year. These days we rarely even stay up until midnight. If I'm up at midnight tomorrow night, I'm probably just taking Dash outside to pee.

The Cerenia pills have stopped Dash from vomiting. They are not meant to be a long term solution, so we only give them to him for four days at a time. Some vets say it is OK for dogs to take Cerenia indefinitely, but I'd rather play it safe. Usually after a four day course of the anti-nausea pills, Dash won't throw up again for at least a month. He certainly seemed normal today and had a lot more energy on his walk than I did.

Janet's friends brought back the dog crate they borrowed this afternoon, so I returned it to the storage warehouse. This large crate used to always be in the back of my Defender. It won't fit in my current car though, so I fold it flat and keep it in storage. It didn't seem so heavy when I used to transport rescue dogs. Now, everything seems heavy.

I hope you guys have a Happy New Year. Almost everybody hopes that 2018 will be better than 2017. Maybe it will be.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2927

What a weird day. Dash seemed normal when I woke up this morning. Janet and I got him ready for his walk like we always do before she leaves for work. Almost as soon as she was out of the driveway, Dash seemed to freeze in place in the living room. At first I just thought he was being stubborn, but it soon became apparent that he was having a vestibular incident. I carefully took his leg brace and harness off and got a blanket so he could lie down. It took a while before he could relax, but as soon as he did, he quickly went to sleep. I kept an eye on him while I was fixing my breakfast. His breathing was steady and the drooling had stopped. This was a good sign.

About two hours later he woke up and headed for the back door. He was ready for a walk. I thought we'd take a short walk, but Dash wanted to keep going. We ended up taking the longest walk of the year. I couldn't figure out why Dash was so eager to take a long walk after having a vestibular seizure,  but there are a lot of things I can't figure out with Dash. We stopped from time to time so I could check and see if everything was normal. It sure seemed to be. We were both tired when we returned to the house. Dash went to sleep again and I went to work.

I continued watching Dash for a while until I was confident he was back to normal and then I ran a few errands. I picked up some more Cerenia pills for him at the vet and picked up some pants that were ready for me at the tailor. The tailor was busy making alterations on a sweater a guy got for Christmas that apparently was too big. He wanted the tailor to make it smaller so the person who gave it to him wouldn't get insulted that he wasn't wearing it. Why didn't the guy just go to a store and exchange the sweater for a smaller size? Wouldn't that have been easier? The tailor kept trying to explain to the guy that since the sweater was knitted, it would be much harder to alter than a fabric garment. The weird thing was that the sweater looked just fine. As I left the store I told the guy that he might consider just wearing the sweater the way it was. Who am I to say though. I was just picking up a ratty old pair of jeans that I'd had the tailor sew knee patches on.

My Media Composer subscription runs out today, so against my better judgement I renewed it for another year.  I do this every year even though I rarely edit video anymore. Now I have current versions of both Pro Tools and Media Composer. I'm ready for that illusive job that will probably never come my way. Realistically, I should have invested a little money into a refresher course. I'm not sure I even remember how to use this software anymore.

New Year's Day is supposed to be one of the coldest New Years on record. This makes me nervous. I hate holidays where essential services are closed. What if the furnace goes out on New Year's Day? What if Dash gets sick? Our dogs have become ill on major holidays before and it has always been a nightmare. I have gotten so used to a 24/7 world where everything is always instantly available that the thought of going without an HVAC repairman, a plumber, or a vet for a few days is troubling.

I hope that the house stays warm and Dash stays healthy over the holidays. After that, I'll worry about 2018. I never make New Year's resolutions but this might be a good year to start. There are certainly some things that could use improvement.

Petey & Greta are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2926

Dash threw up again today. Just like yesterday there were no warning signs. He slept well. His appetite was good this morning. We had a nice walk and then Dash went to sleep, just like he always does. When he woke up around midday he was hungry. I fed him a light lunch and about five minutes later he began drooling heavily. I knew what was coming. After a few frantic minutes, he threw up everything he'd eaten for lunch and then some. These episodes are always the same. Once he empties his stomach, he settles down quickly. I made him a bed in the hallway with some soft blankets and within five minutes he was asleep again.

Since this has happened two days in a row, we'll give him the Cerenia again. Usually these anti-nausea pills seem to stop the vomiting episodes for a while, but maybe they would have stopped anyway. I don't know what triggers the nausea and I don't know why it stops. We have a major re-check scheduled at the cancer center next week, so I'll ask all my questions again. I don't really expect a definitive answer though. Vestibular disease still seems to be the most plausible diagnosis. If something else is causing all Dash's problems, it's going to be a lot harder to find.

Since the weather is still cold and dreary, I thought I'd watch the movie I downloaded yesterday. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that it is no longer possible to watch a movie in its entirety without disruption. I had to pause the film five times to deal with minor dog emergencies. When Dash is acting weird, I always take him seriously these days. Most of the time he just wants attention or needs to go outside and pee. You never know though. Every day is a potential trip to the emergency room.

Even with multiple interruptions, Bladerunner 2049 was an impressive movie. I guess the reason it wasn't a box office hit was that it is very long and a bit slow. It is definitely a cinematographers movie. Roger Deakins made this dystopian, crumbling world look absolutely beautiful. It's been a while since I've seen the the first Bladerunner, but this sequel did seem to show a lot of respect for the original. If I can find a day when I won't be interrupted, I think I'd enjoy seeing both films again.

While Dash was sleeping this morning, I went out and bought another pair of rubber, wet weather boots. The tire patches I've used to extend the life of the boots I'm using to walk Dash now aren't going to last forever. Maybe it's just the Gemini in me. I always like to have a spare ready to go for everything I use regularly.

I think I'll just stay home and fix French Toast tomorrow. It's been so cold this week that after I finish taking Dash on his morning walk, I don't feel like doing anything else. There is little point to going out to eat if I'm not enjoying the food anyway. Maybe something will rekindle my interest in these Friday morning breakfast excursions, but for now I think my own cooking is better.

The trash has been taken out to the curb. Dash has had his evening meds, including an extra Cerania pill. The only thing left is to watch an old Perry Mason re-run and go to sleep. I know that as soon as I get comfortable and drift off to sleep, Dash will wake up and want to go outside again. That's just how we roll these days.

Dot & Petey are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2908

The Christmas tree is up. It's a small tree and all the ornaments are Dalmatians. Periodically new ornaments are added and occasionally ornaments are removed. Most of the Dalmatians with angel wings are now sitting on top of the little urns on the coffee table that contain the ashes of Spot, Petey, Greta, Mindy, and Dot. We don't put presents under the tree anymore. Once the dogs realized that many of them contained treats for them, they wouldn't leave the packages alone.

Before I could deal with the Christmas tree, I had to remove all the equipment from yesterday's photo shoot. I put away the things that had a place in the office and took the rest of the stuff to the storage warehouse. Every time I visit my storage space, I  realize that the day is coming when I'll have to come to terms with all this clutter. The warehouse has become a black hole that sucks up everything I can't figure out what to do with. There are a few treasures here and there, but most of the stuff is old equipment that isn't useful anymore, but will never be collectible either. It will take an enormous amount of energy to clean this place up and I'm not sure I'm up to the task.

With all the Santa Paws gear out of the way and the Christmas tree in place, I realized that the house was very dirty. I spent the rest of the day vacuuming, changing sheets, and cleaning dog blankets. Dash's protective boots were starting to look threadbare, so I repaired them too. The house doesn't really look much better, but at least I tried.

When we took Dash on his morning walk, there were lots of people preparing for the BMW Dallas Marathon. This used to be called the White Rock Marathon, but I guess everything has a corporate sponsor now. I'm not a runner, but this was definitely a beautiful day for a race. It is almost a tradition to have terrible weather for this marathon. Our house is fairly close to the course and we've watched runners compete in pouring rain many times.

When I returned to the park for Dash's afternoon walk, the same crews that were setting up things things this morning were tearing everything down again. By tomorrow morning, all the signage, rest stations, and temporary parking will be gone. I like the park best when nothing is happening and all I hear are ducks quacking. Our walks are really the only time when Winter weather is welcome. Our dogs have always liked cooler weather and I like the fact that the bicycles virtually disappear. On nice days there are bicycles everywhere and I have to be careful that we don't get run over. On chilly days, Dash and I have the park to ourselves.

Dash didn't have a Cerenia pill yesterday and he still seemed completely normal today. This is good news. I'm sure that Dash will have a vestibular episode again, but maybe he can catch a break and enjoy a few months as a normal dog. This disease never really goes away, but the symptoms can subside for months at a time. Dash is lucky that he still seems to be able to recover from these periodic episodes. Some dogs don't.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. There are lots of things around the house that still need attention and I'm not finished with my website project either. There are fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and bananas for my morning smoothie, so I guess we'll start there.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2904

I can't resist taking a picture of Dash next to a fire truck. I have no idea who was being carried out on a stretcher, but it happens a lot in our neighborhood. We're all getting older.

We had our own medical emergency last night. Dash experienced a severe vestibular event and we were up half the night with him. In the past we have taken him to the emergency room when he has one of these episodes, but there is little if anything the vets can do. Now that we recognize the symptoms, we just try to keep him calm and ride it out. The vestibular episodes almost always start the same way. Dash will wake up during the night after sleeping calmly. Usually we will immediately notice that he is drooling. Since drooling is sometimes a precursor to throwing up, I'll take him outside. If he doesn't throw up and seems disoriented and unsteady on his feet, it is often the start of a vestibular seizure. Dash drooled a river last night and was very agitated for about an hour. When he started to calm down, we got him to lay down on a rug in the living room and I curled up next to him. I could tell his breathing was becoming more regular and in about fifteen minutes he fell asleep. I stayed with him until the drooling completely stopped and he seemed normal again. Then I eventually went back to bed. Later that night, Dash woke up and came back to bed with us. He was fine. I was tired the next morning though. I didn't get much sleep.

Vestibular disease is scary, because there is so little you can do. We keep a supply of anti-nausea pills on hand in case he shows signs of vertigo, but the pills don't take effect immediately. The main benefit of the Cerenia pills is if the vestibular events last for several days. The last time we experienced an event this bad was during the summer. Today Dash was completely normal. He ate well and took both of his regular walks. The vestibular disease never really goes away, but episodes like Dash experienced last night are infrequent. We've got enough to worry about with his heart problems. I hope he doesn't have another seizure for many months.

The weather was chilly again today, but there was no rain. I didn't go anywhere because I wasn't completely sure if Dash was back to normal yet. I'd hate for him to have a seizure when I wasn't there. There was plenty to do around the house. I returned to work on my website project and made a lot of progress. I think last night really tired Dash out because he slept a lot today. I always let sleeping dogs lie. It's the only way I get anything done. The website is looking pretty good now. I'm just about ready to turn it over to the client.

I had to renew a domain today and had a real problem turning off the auto-renew feature on my account dashboard. I hate auto-renew because very often I don't want to renew something again. At any rate, when I renewed the domain, my credit card information got captured by the website and all of the sudden I was a perpetual customer again. Damn. It took sitting on hold with tech support for almost an hour before I was able to talk with someone and get the problem resolved. A word of warning. If you sign up for Sirius XM radio, don't ever check the box that lets them auto-renew your subscription. They make it so difficult to leave that you're practically a customer for life.

I'm hoping I can finish the website tomorrow. I'm also hoping that Dash is back to normal. Sometimes the vertigo can last for several days. We gave him another Cerenia pill to help him sleep calmly tonight. I won't need a pill to get to sleep. I'm so tired that I'm falling asleep right now.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2903

If I made a chart that showed my productivity on the x-axis and the outside temperature on the y-axis, you could clearly see that the colder it gets, the less I accomplish. It was so cold today that I spent most of my time wondering if I should wear a warmer sweater. My office is on the opposite side of the house from the utility room, so the warm air from the furnace has already cooled down quite a bit by the time it makes its way through the the vent system. If I turn the furnace up enough to warm this room, the rest of the house is impossibly hot. Janet and Dash like the house cooler anyway, so I'm basically screwed.

The only good thing about the colder weather is that Dash enjoys his walks more in the Winter. Even though he was sick yesterday, he was eager to walk today. I have plenty of warm coats, so chilly walks are never a problem. I hate to sit at the computer wearing a down jacket and a wool hat though, so I'm always adding and subtracting sweaters. I never seem to be happy with the weather. It's always too hot, or too cold, or too wet, or too dry.

It was certainly too cold to go up on the roof today. It rained a lot last night, but the standing water will have to sit there for a while. It's hard enough working on the roof when it's warm. When it's cold, it seem downright dangerous. I hope I did a good job with the repairs I've been making for the past several weeks. This is the reason I continue to patch the roof.  The elastomer coating just needs to stay waterproof until the next warm, dry day.

It's easy for me to forget what day it is. I kept thinking it was Monday today. Probably just having a slightly different schedule yesterday was enough to throw me off. At any rate, I spent much of the day doing typical Monday errands. I went to the bank, paid some bills, and picked up some more Cerenia pills for Dash at the vet. It was a slow day, so I also wrote a letter to my sister.

I needed to order some more checks while I was at the bank and the lady I talked to tried to convince me to stop using paper checks. "We've got better ways to pay now," she told me. "Better for you," I kept thinking. What's wrong with paper? Everyone keeps trying to get me to go paperless. When the bank officer was telling me that using your phone to pay was more secure, I just rolled my eyes. Jeez. Virtually all security breeches are electronic in nature. Those Equifax hackers certainly didn't steal a huge pile of paper.

Dash seems fine today. Maybe it was the anti-nausea pills, or maybe his vestibular disease symptoms are over for a while. This is a frustrating disease because the symptoms come and go without warning. We're never really sure what makes him sick and what causes him to get better. I think the anti-nausea pills help, but since he can't keep taking them forever, we kind of just guess at when he really needs them.

It's supposed to be even colder tomorrow, so it may be time to find the little ceramic heater I keep under my desk in the Winter. In many ways it would be a lot easier to just use a laptop at the kitchen table in the Winter, but whenever I'm in the kitchen, Dash thinks it's time to eat. I could never get any work done in the kitchen. I actually hope that Dash is barking in the kitchen tomorrow. When he's acting this way, it usually means he's feeling pretty good.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2902

Dash threw up again today. This has to have something to do with his vestibular disease. Otherwise the symptoms just don't make sense. Everything will be fine and then all of the sudden he will appear very distressed and throw up everything he has eaten recently. Lately, this seems to happen about one a month. This morning Dash ate his normal breakfast, took a nice walk and then retired to the bedroom to take a nap. This is what he does every day. When he woke up from his nap, he went straight to the back door and scratched to get out. After eating some grass, he came back inside, took another short nap, and then puked all over the carpet. While I was cleaning up the first mess, he puked again in the living room. After that, he was fine for the rest of the day.

I was getting ready to go to the doctor when Dash got sick, so I got out some soft blankets and confined him in the hallway while I was gone. It was hard enough cleaning vomit off the carpet the first time. I definitely didn't want to do this again today. This seemed to be a fairly major episode, so I also gave him a Cerenia pill. When I returned from my doctor's appointment, Dash was sleeping calmly on his blanket and everything seemed fine again. I wish someone could tell me exactly what is going on, but we may never find the answer. I'm pretty sure that this is not another hidden cancer, because we have had him scanned from nose to tail. There are no suspicious growths or tumors anywhere. The vertigo that accompanies a vestibular event can definitely cause a dog to vomit. There's a good chance that this is what is happening. Since there is no real cure for vestibular disease, Dash's doctor says to expect periodic vestibular seizures for the rest of his life.

When I switched primary care physicians, I decided to switch the specialists I see as well, so everyone would be affiliated with the same hospital. Today I had an initial visit with my new urologist. This guy was so much better than the doctor I was seeing previously that it made me wonder why I stayed loyal to my old doctors for so long. All doctors aren't the same and the differences between a good doctor and a bad doctor are enormous. So far, I think my decision to upgrade the quality of my medical care has been a wise one. I just should have done this sooner.

Janet and I went to a Christmas party at the presidential library this evening. As usual, I didn't know anybody at the event, but the food was excellent. I even had a glass of wine. Janet volunteers as a docent at the library one day a week, so that's how we wind up on the guest list. I was a little worried about leaving Dash at home, but he was perfectly fine when we returned. With any luck, we'll have at least a month before we'll have to deal with the vestibular disease again. Even though each episode can be scary, the symptoms don't seem to last very long. I just hope he never has another serious incident while I'm gone.

It never did rain today. I wonder where the weather app on my phone gets its information? It never seems to be right. I'm glad we had another dry day. The repairs I made to the roof yesterday will have another day to cure properly. I'll be so glad when I finally get these roof repairs finished. I'll be even happier to see Dash get better. He had a rough day today.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2839

For the sixth time since we moved here, a car ploughed through our front yard at a high rate of speed, knocked over several small trees in our neighbor's yard, and eventually came to rest about 100 yards away in an adjacent side street after knocking over a stop sign. It's amazing that these accidents happen again and again. They either occur around 2 AM, right after the bars close, or early in the morning when tired shift workers are headed home from their job.

I heard the crash this morning when I was cleaning Dash's paws in the back yard after we returned from our morning walk. By the time I went out front to see what had happened, I could already hear the sirens of first responders arriving. There must have been injuries, because an ambulance and fire truck were on the scene in minutes. The busy street we live on makes a slight turn just before our house. If you're not paying attention, I would imagine that it would be easy to just keep going straight and end up on our front yard. Maybe that's not what's going on, but it's all I can think of. At any rate, the errant car tore up the yard again and I will have to go buy some sod to replace the grass that is no longer there.

Dash was walking so slowly this morning that our walk took over an hour and a half. Dash would walk about twenty feet and then stop and smell things for the longest time. I couldn't figure out if he was enjoying himself, or having trouble walking with his new knee brace. He seemed to be enjoying himself, so we just kept walking.

Like everyone else, I was shocked to hear about the shooting in Las Vegas. I was kind of shocked to hear about Tom Petty too. I used to spend a lot of time in Las Vegas and always considered the city very safe. One by one, all my favorite places are becoming war zones. Barcelona is in turmoil and wants to succeed from Spain. Paris has been plagued by terrorist attacks. I wouldn't dare visit Turkey again. And now Las Vegas has joined the fray. I guess it's not surprising that I mostly just stay home these days.

Dash still seems to be eating after we discontinued the Cerenia yesterday. Just to be safe, I went and picked up some more Cerenia tablets at the vet. I'd rather not have him taking the anti-nausea medication, but it is essential that he keeps eating. After I picked up Dash's pills, I renewed one of my own prescriptions at my doctor's office. There were so many sick people in the lobby that I wished they had a drive through window. The crowded lobby made me seriously consider switching doctors again. The fact that my doctor fired me as his web designer doesn't help matters either. Maybe it's time for a change.

Every night I go to bed hoping that the next day will be calm and peaceful. It certainly wasn't a calm day today, but maybe tomorrow will be better. I can't keep the world from disintegrating, but I'm hoping that I can help Dash get well again. So much is out of my control now, but I can still help a sick dog.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2838

I think we've found Dash's Halloween costume. He looks like a pirate wearing his new knee brace. Hopefully, the brace will help prevent his partial ACL tear from becoming worse while we are dealing with his heart issues. The last thing we want right now is a situation that might require emergency surgery. Dash seems to walk fairly normally wearing the brace. The rubber boots on his rear legs still fall off, but we've got some better ones ordered.

Dash has finished his first week of anti-nausea pills. We are supposed to go without the pills for a while and see if the nausea returns. Although this makes sense and is something we need to do, it makes me nervous to go without the pills. They did seem to make a difference. Dash's appetite still isn't good, but at least he's eating now. I'd hate to be back to square one again. I guess we can always restart the Cerenia if the nausea returns. Both of his vets say it is very safe.

I did pretty well at the gym today. I'm burning more calories now and I may even extend my workout a bit next week. Physically, I don't think it would be that difficult to go to the gym three times a week. I just don't have the time. I wonder how people who go to the gym on a regular basis find the time. It's weird that even though my writing and website work has slowed down to a crawl, I'm still constantly busy. I've probably just slowed down a lot. I think it takes me twice as long to do just about everything.

I get twice as tired on active days too. Today, in addition to going to the gym, I cleaned the house, changed the sheets, and washed the dog beds. I was going to use some epoxy stuff I found at Home Depot to seal the leaky shower drain, but when I got my other chores sone, I just didn't feel like it. I hate working with epoxy, silicon, tile grout, and other messy products. No matter how hard I try, I always end up spilling something on my skin or clothing. I have a bad feeling about this epoxy. If it doesn't work as intended, it's going to be hard to remove.

I did finish my article today and shipped it off to the client. I wish I had more writing jobs. Writing is a great way to earn money when you're taking care of a sick dog. There are seldom any meetings, no fancy equipment is required, and it is a very quiet, peaceful activity. Writing was one of the few things I could do well while Dot was sick. I can leave Dash for short periods of time, but I wouldn't feel comfortable being away on an all day photo shoot anymore. If I leave the cone on Dash for more than a few hours at a time, he's going to get himself in trouble. We don't need the cone when I'm here. Dash usually just goes to sleep under my desk while I'm working.

It's hard to believe it's October already. It's been a rough year, but I guess there are still three more months for something fun to happen.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2833

There are so many things wrong with Dash that we're going to have to go through a process of elimination to determine what is causing his eating disorder. The first step is to determine whether he really has nausea. We'll give him Cerenia for five days and see whether his appetite returns. Cerenia is a very effective anti-nausea medication, so if he still isn't eating this weekend, the cause probably isn't nausea. The vet discovered that his heart murmur had changed and suspects that it might be caused by fluid buildup around the heart. He does have an enlarged heart, so this is entirely possible. I've scheduled an echocardiogram for later this week. We'll check his heart and also his abdomen to see if there are any tumors evident.

On top of all this, the vet thinks that Dash may have partially torn a cruciate ligament in one of his knees. She suspects that this, rather than his vestibular disease, might be causing him to drag his rear legs on long walks. So many things are wrong that it impossible to know how to treat Dash until we learn more. The vestibular disease could be causing nausea. Poor appetite has many other causes too, so it might not be nausea at all. The agitation he often shows before he goes to bed at night could be caused by Pericardial Effusion. Evidently fluid buildup is worse at night while the dog is sleeping and over time they can become nervous about going to sleep. Maybe this explains why he gets upset about going to bed at night. It's also possible, but somewhat unlikely, that Dash has sundown syndrome, or even cushings disease.

It's all kind of sad. Dot and Dash used to love to run like the wind when they were young. I was hoping that after Dot passed away Dash would get another chance to be active again and really enjoy himself. He liked being around Dot so much that he had to slow down to her pace as she got sicker. Now, it appears he is sick as well. Dash has a really good team of doctors, so I'm hoping that they'll be able to return him to good health. He's not getting any younger though, so his days of running like the wind might be over.

The refrigerator repairman came back this afternoon and finished the job. When the repairman began taking things apart, I was surprised to see that the evaporator coil had already become frozen again. Jeez. It's only been a few days since I spent hours thawing everything out. Hopefully the new parts that were installed today will fix this ongoing problem. The repairman installed a new heater that periodically defrosts the coil when ice starts to form. He also installed a new thermostat that will tell the heater when it's time to start the defrost cycle. I can't decide whether refrigerators are crude simple machines, or hopelessly complex. I'm glad someone invented the refrigerator. Modern life would be pretty difficult without one.

I've got a dental appointment tomorrow morning. It's only a routine cleaning, so I shouldn't be long. It still makes me nervous to leave Dash, but sometimes it can't be helped. I'm hoping he'll just sleep while I'm away.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2764

I walked Dash by myself today and everything seemed fine. My wrist didn't give me any problems and the swelling on my leg didn't get any worse. My left leg still looks larger than my right leg, but the difference isn't alarming anymore. The cuts have even scabbed over enough so I can take normal showers again without bandages or bleeding worries. If I'm patient, even the ugly black and blue marks will eventually disappear. Now, I just need to make sure that I stay far, far away from the aggressive dogs in the neighborhood.

Janet got good news from her oncologist. She won't need chemotherapy or radiation treatments. The oncologist will want to monitor things for quite a while and there are some pills she'll need to take, but this was definitely the outcome everyone was hoping for. There will be one more minor surgery before the reconstruction process is complete, but everything is going according to plan. It looks like Dash and I will be alone in the house again soon. Janet is eager to go back to work.

The one thing we forgot to ask Dash's oncologist yesterday was why he still throws up occasionally for no reason at all. He has been normal for well over a month, so it just slipped our minds. Sure enough, he threw up again today, one day after his exam. He seemed fine all day, took a normal walk, ate a normal dinners, and then threw up about two hours later after taking a nap. I'm pretty sure he didn't eat bugs, or anything nasty today. He didn't seem to have an upset stomach either. It's a mystery. We gave him a Cerenia pill and hopefully he won't throw up his phenobarbital later this evening.

I told the Land Rover people that there wasn't much point in their marketing department doing elaborate service promotions if the dealership was just going to pretend they didn't exist. They still wouldn't take anything off my bill, but finally agreed to issue me a hundred dollar credit that I could use on my next repair. I felt pretty good until I looked at a pile of mail on my desk later in the day and discovered another different coupon that could have been used to reduce my bill even further. I'm going to call them back tomorrow. Land Rover repairs are too expensive to let this slide.

I lost the ability to run Unix software when I upgraded my system recently. Things were so slow today that I thought it might be a good time to reinstall the software tools I needed. Unfortunately, I needed to install everything using the command line in the Terminal window. I've forgotten just about everything I've ever learned about Unix commands, so the install process took a while. I don't know why I wasted hours doing this, because I've never used these Unix applications anyway.

Other than cleaning up dog vomit, it was a peaceful, uneventful day. Things are slowly but surely getting done. About the only major thing left on my Summer do-do list is getting my passport renewed. I think I'll wait another week to do that. Even though my leg is much better, I still don't think I'm up to standing in a long line for hours.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day