Day 3052

The first thing I did this morning was look at the weather radar. A line of storms was on the way, but it looked like I'd have enough time to walk Dash. I'm getting better at gauging how long our slow walks will take. This time we made it back home with several minutes to spare.

The sky was dark and ominous by the time I finished breakfast. I made sure the pump on the roof was working and then settled in for a long day of doing nothing. It's a blessing in disguise that Dash's hearing isn't so good anymore. He didn't even flinch when the thunder started. After Dash fell asleep, I watched the show I had recorded yesterday. Season Three of The Expanse was worth the wait, but I hate waiting an entire week for each new episode. No wonder binge watching on Netflix has become so popular. A TV drama series is a lot more like a movie when you can watch the whole season at once. I think I'll set the DVR to record the entire series. When I watch this on TV, I can fast forward through the ads. When I stream the same thing on my computer, you can't mess with the ads at all. You are forced to watch each and every one in it's entirety.

I wish I had more to watch today. There wasn't much to do when my show was over. I checked the mail, paid the bills that arrived, and waited for the rain to stop so I could take them to the post office. Dash didn't provide much incentive to be more ambitious. He spends an enormous amount of time sleeping these days. It's hard to even remember that Dash was once a high energy whirling dervish who always wanted to walk or go to the dog park. It's equally hard to remember that I used to have a lot more energy too.

It rained a lot today and I was worried that the roof was going to start leaking again. So far, so good. The living room is still dry. I think it's supposed to dry out tomorrow and be mostly sunny next week. Maybe I've dodged a bullet again. I'll sure be glad when the roofers come back to repair things.

As soon as the weather improves, I need to start boxing up my model trains at the storage warehouse. My heart isn't in this, but there's no point in leaving the collection in storage forever. My friend will find a new home for the collection and maybe I'll recover some of the money I've spent. I used to have a lot of these things proudly on display in my office. I ran out of space a long time ago though. Now, the office doesn't look much different than the storage warehouse.

I can't decide whether to go out for breakfast tomorrow. I can talk myself out of almost anything when the weather is bad. I've used up all the fresh fruit, so I couldn't make a smoothie, but there are still eggs. Maybe I'll make myself an omelet. Actually, a bowl of oatmeal sounds fine. So does staying in bed and sleeping till noon.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1740

I'm beginning to feel like I'm locked in a perpetual battle with the aging process. It's not just me that's aging; it's everything. I lost two of my favorite cars to this battle this year. I just couldn't keep them running any longer. I'm losing ground on the house as well. Even though the place is extremely well built, it is almost 65 years old and nature is taking its toll. When I was up on the roof today, I saw signs of carpenter ants again. The foundation is shifting a bit, even though there are concrete piers that go all the way to the bedrock. Lord knows how long the plumbing will last. The two inch cast iron drains are no match for today's larger washing machines and dishwashers. It's amazing how quickly nature wins if you don't keep making constant repairs.

There are small victories of course. I am so happy that the dogs are healthy again. They both could have easily died this year. I can't make them any younger though, so I know this is a temporary victory. When I took over my Dad's affairs toward the end of his life, it was frightening to see how quickly things can go downhill. I need to do a better job of appreciating each additional day that I am granted. None of us really know how many we will have. The dogs do a great job of living one day at a time. I should do better myself.

I tried to make the most of today by downloading and installing IOS 8 on my phone, removing a small mountain of cracked pecan shells from the roof, mowing the grass, and making sure that the dogs had two nice walks. It was surprisingly warm today for so late in the year. I guess since we've already had some very pleasant Fall days, I expect them all to be that way. It might have been too hot for me, but I think the dogs enjoyed the warmth. They spent quite a while sunbathing out in the back yard this afternoon.

I set the DVR to record the latest episode of Dr. Who before walking the dogs this evening. There will be no mini-revue tonight because I haven't even watched the show yet. Perhaps this will give me something to do while I am preparing the bed for Dot a few hours from now. Although she hasn't had an accident recently, I still can't bring myself to declare victory over the incontinence. Better safe than soiled is my new motto.

I saw more Christmas trees when I was doing my shopping this afternoon. They were artificial trees, of course, but there's still something wrong with seeing Christmas stuff for sale in September. When I was walking the dogs, I notice several yard signs announcing the annual DADA Fall Gallery Walk. I used to never miss this art walk. The fact that I am more interested in going to the gym than going on gallery tours probably tells you all you need to know about my changing priorities. Yep. I'm going to the gym again tomorrow, and after I burn off a few calories, I'll go to the store and buy some tasty sausages.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1727

When I go to the gym, I warm up for twenty minutes using the hand bicycle. Most people start by jogging around the track or using one of the treadmills for a while, but the hand bike works for me. I spend so much time walking the dogs that my legs are fine. It's my upper body that need work. All I do with my arms and upper body is type. The first five minutes on the hand bike are murder. My joints ache and my arms are sore. Then my body starts to warm up and I get into a rhythm. By the end of the twenty minutes, I'm daydreaming as usual and I've almost forgotten that I'm using the machine.

That's the way it is with most things in life. I hate getting out of bed in the morning. When I wake up, all I want to do is roll over and go back to sleep again. I do get up though. I get up at the same time even on days when I have had little sleep. By the time I've made the bed and prepared my morning coffee, life seems bearable again. After walking the dogs and eating a leisurely breakfast, I've almost always forgotten how much I disliked getting out of bed just a few hours earlier.

The dogs probably felt this way today. Dot and Dash both got a bath this morning and Dash suffered the additional indignity of going to the vet to have his anal glands expressed. As much as the dogs protest these occasional trips to the local dog washing emporium, they always feel better afterwards. They stop itching and scratching for a while and concentrate on more important things like begging for treats. A bath is kind of like a thunderstorm for Dot and Dash. As soon as it's over, they totally forget it was something to worry about.

Before going to the gym today, I watched the new Dr. Who episode that I taped last night. This show, which involved taking Clara to meet Robin Hood, was much more entertaining than last week's awkward trip inside a Dalak's head. I think the scriptwriters are getting used to writing for Peter Capaldi. One of the benefits of watching your favorite shows using a DVR is that you can skip all the commercials. Maybe I'll start watching more shows this way. Either commercials are much worse than they used to be, or I've just lost my tolerance for them. They break up the narrative and are generally irritating. I can't believe that I spent a big chunk of my life writing these things.

My new phone is kind of mysterious. Even though it looks identical to the phone it replaced, there is something different about it. The phone runs IOS 7.1.2, just like the old phone. The same apps are installed. So why does it act so differently? I bet that Apple has updated the firmware of its later model phones. It doesn't really matter anyway. The iPhone 6 will make its debut in a few weeks anyway.

Dot had another good day today. No accidents at all! Maybe the pills are starting to work.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1439

Two down. Three to go. We've been to today's Santa Paws location before. This venue always has the smallest amount of space to set up our backdrop, but always seems to attract the largest dogs. Our first dog today was a giant Great Dane. When the dog arrived on the set with Santa, there wasn't room for me, so I had to back off and take the photos through the doorway. Next was a woman who wanted all five of her dogs to sit on Santa's lap. That's the kind of day it was. I'd like to think I learn some kind of life lesson from these odd photo shoots, but I don't. People seem to like their pictures though and I guess that's all that matters.

The sleet and freezing rain that everyone was anticipating didn't materialize. The weather was still nasty, but at least there wasn't the worry of driving on icy roads. There are few things worse than driving on icy roads in Texas. Only about one driver in fifty has ever had any experience in driving on ice and when the roads get slick, the highways instantly turn into a demolition derby. I learned how to drive when I was going to high school in Alaska, and I can still remember the basics of driving on ice. Unfortunately, I've discovered that it doesn't really matter if I can keep my car going in a straight line if everyone else can't.

I'm looking forward to watching the new Fiftieth Anniversary episode of Dr. Who later this evening. The premiere was at an odd time during the afternoon, since the BBC simulcast the show in the US at the same time they aired it in the UK. I've got the show recorded however, if the DVR worked. I think I've finally figured out how to work the DVR on the cable box. Even if I didn't record the show properly, I'm sure the BBC will air it again and again for the next six months.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. There's standing water on the roof, but it's very cold and I'd rather stay inside. I still have unfinished articles to write, but I hate to work on weekends. The dogs need a trip to the dog park, but I suspect that the place is a mud pit and will probably be closed. I probably need to go back to the grocery store and get the things I forgot today. I should never go shopping without a list. Who knows what will happen. The entire day is completely up in the air right now. It might even snow.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1243

I took Janet to the airport today. It used to be that I traveled more than she did, but now it's the other way around. I rarely leave the neighborhood anymore. That's just as well. I don't really like traveling anymore. The dogs definitely don't like the idea of traveling. Mostly because they usually don't get to go. Dot and Dash get upset whenever they see a suitcase. A suitcase means that something is going to change and their routines will be disrupted for a while. I try to compensate by feeding them extra treats and taking naps with them. This usually works. Luckily, dogs are easy to please.

It was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. Maybe that's why everything was so crowded. There were long lines at the grocery store. There were even lines of people using the self-checkout terminals, which are usually empty. There was an old woman ahead of me in line who kept swiping her credit card through the machine over and over again, swearing at it when it wasn't doing what she wanted. I was just about ready to move to another line, when a clerk came over to her and explained that she was already finished and could just take her buggy and go. I wonder what will baffle and confuse me when I get old? I sure it will be something. It will be something totally unexpected too. That's the way it usually works.

When I was watching Dr. Who this evening I noticed a glowing red light on the set top box. I had forgotten that I had programmed the DVR to record the show. I don't know why I'm so keen on seeing every episode, because I don't think this new series is quite as good as some of the previous ones. I still think I liked the ninth and tenth doctors the best, when they traveled with Rose Tyler. Oh, well. If I want to see this new episode again, it's in the box. Maybe the season will get better. There's already a lot of buzz about the season finale, when the Doctor's name is revealed.

I hope the dogs don't mind if we skip the dog park tomorrow. Yeah, I know. Some people take four or five dogs to the park by themselves. I don't. Maybe I'm overprotective, but Dot is getting old and I've seen some pretty rough dogs in the park. I just feel more comfortable when there's two of us watching over them.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1223

I wish people who visited the park behind our house were as nice as the people at the dog park. The people we see at the dog park all seem to be considerate with very well socialized dogs. The people who visit the public parks on weekends are anything but. They change their babies in the bushes and leave the poop filled diapers on the ground. After their weekend picnics, paper plates and cups litter acres of greenery on Monday morning. Worst of all they let their poorly socialized, and often aggressive dogs off leash. I feel like I"m walking the dogs through a minefield on weekends. Happily, the same park is quiet and almost empty during the rest of the week. Today we avoided a loose pitbull, but weren't so lucky with a group of kids who wanted to pet Dot & Dash. The kids were nice enough, but they stopped us near a big pile of horse poop, which Dash proceeded to eat.

I wish they'd let Dash in the small dog park. He's been fearful of larger dogs ever since he was attacked several years ago. He seems to have overcome his fear of small dogs though. Today a small terrier befriended him at the dog park and the two of them had great fun running and playing. I think Dash looks forward to these trips to the dog park all week long. It is one of the few places he feels safe.

I made some more fresh juice today. A mix of half pineapple and half orange tastes quite good. Making the fresh juice is quite easy with the new juicer. Cleaning up the machine afterwards is another matter entirely. What a mess. I can't wash the pulp down the drain either. Even with the garbage disposal, I don't think our old pipes would handle it. I've taken to making enough juice to last a week, so I won't have to clean the machine so often.

I've taken to watching Dr. Who on Sunday afternoon as well. Watching the show on the DVR at a different time than it was broadcast is a little bit like time travel, which makes a show about time travel even more interesting. I wish I'd discovered the DVR earlier. Janet and I always used to complain that there was nothing worth watching on TV. We were wrong. It's all there. The problem is that the shows we like usually come on when we are working or busy with something else. The DVR solves all that. You watch what you want, when you want to watch it.

I need to make a list of questions to ask the vet this week. Dot has her acupuncture treatment and Dash has his annual exam. Dash has been rubbing his snout on the carpet lately and I wonder if he has a toothache. I need to know what the vet thinks about my decision to forgo the elaborate MRI and spinal tap tests for Dot. We're taken Dot and Dash off Trifexis for heartworms and switched them back to Sentinel. There's no conclusive proof that Trifexis can cause seizures, but there sure is a lot of anecdotal evidence on the Internet. Better safe than sorry, I think.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1216

I had to laugh this morning. When we arrived at the dog park, there must have been a dozen dogs sitting around a small tree, all looking skyward. You guessed it. There was a squirrel in the tree. Dot and Dash frequently do this in the back yard. They quickly lose interest though. A couple of the dogs in the park were more persistent. They continued to stare upward at the tree for the entire duration of our visit.

Janet often walks the dogs in the park on Sunday mornings and I am faced with a deficit of steps on my little activity tracking wristlet. I have become a slave to the thing. To meet my quota of activity, I've taken to looking for chores around the house. This is very unlike me, since I'm basically a lazy person. I guess it's a good thing though. Today I cut down a small, dead Wax Myrtle tree in the front yard and hauled the branches out to the street for big trash day next week. I meant to have the landscapers do this last month when they were here, but I forgot. This task seemed to compensate for the lack of a walk, and I felt better.

When I finished my self-appointed chores, I watched the Dr. Who episode I recorded yesterday. I guess I could have bought a TiVo box years ago and discovered this brave new world of re-arranging the natural order of things on TV much earlier, but I'm still a late bloomer about some things. I wonder what this all means for the traditional networks. With DVRs, Hulu, Netflicks, and shows like Game of Thrones, the networks don't really matter anymore. When I was a kid, every family subscribed to TV Guide magazine. They literally planned their lives around this diminutive programming bible. How things have changed.

I need to remember to send off the voucher with my first quarterly estimated tax payment tomorrow. I forget this a lot. In the euphoria of getting all your tax issues sorted out for another year, it's easy to overlook the fact that April 15 isn't the end of anything. It's just the day when you begin the whole cycle all over again.

Next week looks busy already. Dot has a visit with the neurologist in addition to her regular acupuncture appointment. Dash has his antigen shot. There are several writing assignments already on tap. This takes us up to Wednesday. After that, anything could happen.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1215

Today was near perfect. What's not to like about 68 degrees, a light breeze, clear skies, and low humidity. I wasn't the only one who was pleased with the perfect weather either. The park was filled with picnickers, sunbathers, joggers, and horseback riders. I had other things to do. I mowed the grass.

With two new 12 volt batteries installed, the mower ran just fine. Unfortunately, the person pushing the mower needed some new batteries himself. I remember when I first bought the house, I could mow all the grass in the front and back yards with an old fashioned push reel mower. Not anymore! Each Spring I notice that the current electric mower seems a little heavier and harder to operate. Today, mowing the front yard left me winded and tired. I simply can't let my upper body strength deteriorate any more. Walking the dogs is great for my legs, but I've ignored my arms. It might be time to join a gym.

They're repairing the road in front of our house and it's driving Dot nuts. A big, very loud machine, somewhat like an agricultural combine, goes back and forth scraping away the old asphalt and spitting it into waiting trucks. Eventually, some other machines will come and re-pave the road with asphalt again. This process happens about every five years and until the road crews are finished, it will be exceedingly dusty. Dot hates the noise of the machines, and even though she can't see them, she barks continuously.  The odd thing is that there was nothing wrong with the road before the city decided to re-pave it. One more example of governmant money at work.

It's nice to be able to watch Dr. Who whenever I want now. I've mastered the DVR and record all the new episodes now. Instead of racing through dinner to watch the show on the good TV in the bedroom, I just watch it later when I've got nothing better to do. I do have something better to do tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be a fabulous day at the dog park. Dot and Dash are already making plans.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1208

We went to another casino party tonight. Janet and I usually play roulette at these charity fundraisers, mostly because we are the designated roulette dealers whenever Dalmatian Rescue has similar events. Sometimes we can pick up tips from other dealers that we can use ourselves. Not tonight. The pair at the roulette table this evening were the most inept roulette dealers we've come across yet. They didn't know the odds on the board. They would routinely pay numbers that didn't win and forget to pay number that did win. They seldom paid winners the right amount either. These dealers didn't even appear to know how the game was played. Nobody got mad though. We were just playing with monopoly money and the entire evening was for a good cause. Janet and I are much better roulette dealers than these bumblers though.

The weather finally cleared up today. With an abundance of clear skies and warm temperatures, the dogs finally got the enjoy the newly landscaped back yard. It would have been a good day to do a little more gardening, but I'm still not sure where all the poison ivy plants are hiding. The meds are starting to work, but I still think it's going to be at least another week before the itching subsides.

I had to get all my Saturday chores finished a little early today, since we needed to leave the house for the fundraiser by 6 PM. We ate dinner at the event, so that saved a little time. The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, vacuuming, making fresh juice out of a big bag of oranges, and looking for the source of the latest leak up on the roof. I couldn't find where the water was coming in, but I did get clean sheets on the bed and gave the dogs a nice long walk before we left for the evening.

I hope I remembered how to use the DVR correctly. I set up the machine to record the new Dr. Who episode this evening, but I haven't had time yet to see if my efforts were a success. So far, the new season of Dr. Who looks like it's going to be a good one. I'm kind of pleased that I've finally mastered the television. I no longer have to watch shows when they are aired. Now, I can watch them any time I want.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a dog park day. I can tell Dash has cabin fever from being cooped up too long. He needs a chance to run off-leash. With all the rainy weather we've been having this Spring, we've missed our Sunday visit to the dog park for several weeks in a row.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1201

I feel like I'm on the verge of something. I have over 30,000 Twitter followers, but no idea what to do with them. I find it increasingly easy to write endlessly, but still have nothing to say. I'm smart enough to realize that most of my successful writer friends have chosen to write about something useful to other people. They write cookbooks and books about parenting which are frequently wildly popular. Those that chose to write deeply personal novels instead, usually sold next to nothing. If they were lucky, they eventually wound up teaching English literature somewhere, totally mired in university bureaucracy and faculty politics. And those that chose to just write about themselves? Well, enough said about that sticky subject.

I only mention this because I've been watching Seinfeld's new Internet series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." I watched all ten episodes last night, and found the show fascinating. All the other comedians Jerry had coffee with seemed to share one thing in common. They all hated the idea of working for a living and couldn't imagine having a boss that told them what to do every day. I've always felt the same way. During my ad agency days, I used to tell friends that I was a prostitute. "People just rent my mind instead of my body. That's the only difference," I'd say. I've always thought that I was a clever guy, but if I ever accomplished anything useful to anyone other than myself, it was purely accidental. I'm still on the verge of something though. I can feel it.

Today, I finally learned how to use the DVR, mostly so I could record the new episode of Dr. Who that comes on later this evening. I hate to watch TV during dinner, but I definitely don't want to miss the new show. I am also determined to find a decent new roof that doesn't cost as much as a new car. A roof should never cost as much as a car. Cars are more fun. Google seems to be helping me with my quest. Every time I complain about my leaking roof on the blog, a new roofing company ad seems to magically appear in my Google Adwords queue. I clicked on one of these ads today and discovered an industrial company that refurbishes commercial roofs with a high-tech coating that is supposedly guaranteed against leaks for ten years. Sounds good to me. Sounds economical too. I think I'll investigate this further.

I've been amazed at how healthy and happy Dot has seemed this week. Maybe the acupuncture treatments and her new vitamins are really helping. I wonder if they have acupuncture treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome? Hey, it's worth a try. For most of my life, I've been very skeptical about alternative medicine. Maybe I was wrong though. I've achieved far better results from going to a good nutritionist and radically changing my diet than with all the prescription medications various doctors have prescribed. Come to think of it, physical therapy proved to be a much better solution to my neck and back pain than all the prescription pain pills too. Maybe some day I can get rid of all the pills entirely.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1014

People must have spent the weekend thinking of things they wanted me to do. Usually Mondays are completely dead, but today there were a ton of little projects that needed to be dealt with. There were new things that needed to be written. Old things that needed to be revised. And of course, there were confusing things that made no sense at all. As I methodically worked my way through this lengthy to-do list, I kept wondering when the fun was going to start. It never did.

I learned a bit about steam turbines today as well. Steam turbines are pretty dull. Even though these complicated and very expensive pieces of machinery are essential for everything from making electricity to making paper, they are only slightly more exciting than a farmer's windmill. Actually, a farmer's windmill is a type of turbine.

Our backyard armadillo has been joined by a backyard raccoon. I saw the raccoon on the porch this morning when I woke up early and went out to the kitchen for a glass of water. I don't know if the raccoon has joined forces with the armadillo to tear up the yard, but it is stealing things off the porch. Raccoons will steal virtually anything. They are also carriers of rabies and will attack dogs and cats. I've got to get rid of this raccoon.

I missed last Saturday's episode of Dr. Who, so I thought I'd record it on the U-verse DVR so I could watch it later. I've never used the DVR, but it couldn't be that hard, could it? I set the DVR to record the show when it was replayed at 2AM this morning. I must have done something wrong though, because when I got ready to watch the episode this morning, I discovered that nothing had been recorded at all. Oh, well. My Instagram photos aren't being recorded to the Camera Roll on my new phone either. That's the trouble with technology. You've got to learn how to use it.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day