Day 3139

My cousin sent me some old letters he'd found that my Dad had sent to his Mom during World War II. No wonder my parents weren't all that happy with me when I was this age. The letters weren't all that exciting, but Dad was definitely a loyal son. He wrote his mother every single day for long periods of time. I'm not sure my parents even had my address when I was this age. All I wanted was to be independent and to be left alone. I thought the letters would be about the horrors of war, but they were mostly about the monotony of Navy life and about missing family holidays. Dad was a good son. I guess I never realized how much his family meant to him. Times have certainly changed. My Dad's generation began moving away from home to pursue new opportunities after the war. Their children, including me, moved even further from their roots and family ties continued to become weaker. I wonder what this all means. If I knew, I could give a TED talk or something. Ease of travel and globalization have had a huge impact on who we are and what we'll become. All I know is that there are very few people who still write their parents every day. There are probably even fewer who do this in longhand with a fountain pen.

It's kind of ironic that I actually write every day just like my Dad. These are just notes to myself though. The loyal son has become the self absorbed son. No apologies though. Writing is good. The older I get, the more important writing becomes. Putting words together is good for the mind. Maybe it will keep me from becoming senile.

If the blog helps the mind, hopefully going to the gym helps the body. I did so well shooting free throws today that I started shooting from the three point line. This was much harder, but I did manage to sink a few shots. I wonder how my gym stays in business? The building is huge, but there are seldom more than a dozen people inside. Since the gym is part of a large hospital complex, maybe it doesn't need to turn a profit. Who knows. With the cost of health care these days, this gym is probably doing OK even if it's empty.

Dash had a good day. He got up on his own this morning, took his morning meds, and then dutifully walked to the back door and pooped outside. I wish I could convince him to do this every day. We had a nice morning walk, but yesterday's cooling breezes have disappeared. It kept getting hotter and hotter as the day progressed. By dinnertime, it had become far too hot for an evening walk. Dash didn't seem to be upset. Somehow he knew that yesterday was a good day for walking and today wasn't.

One of my favorite apps on my phone is going to disappear tomorrow. I've been using it for years to track everywhere I go. Facebook bought the app a few years ago and stopped maintaining it. Now they've decided to completely abandon the tracker and erase everyone's data. I've spent the weekend looking for a replacement app that does the same thing. Nothing I've found seems to work as well. Bummer. Now I've got one more reason to distrust Facebook. It wouldn't have killed these guys to keep this obscure little app going just to keep people like me happy.

Dash slept all night last night, which meant that I slept pretty well too. Coincidently, the security light in the back yard stayed lit all night as well. I look at things like these as good omens. I hope we have a repeat performance tonight.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3097 - Father's Day

Since my birthday is always close to Father's Day, my Mom used to tell Dad that I was his Father's Day gift. I think this annoyed my Dad. I was often a thorn in his side. I abandoned a childhood love of physics and astronomy to go to architecture school. Just when my Dad was getting used to the idea of his son as an architect, I abandoned architecture for a career in advertising. Dad had little use for advertising. He was a devout Lutheran and he never really understood when I abandoned the church. We were not always close, but I always admired my Dad. He was an honest man, a Navy veteran, and a proud member of the greatest generation.

Dad was a scientist who enjoyed watching The Three Stooges on TV after work. He was an avid reader and often gave me books he thought I should read. We never shared the same taste in books. To this day I don't know why he enjoyed Don Marquis so much. He probably wouldn't understand why I liked John Kennedy Toole. I've tried to read The Old Soak and A Variety of People and always lost interest after a few chapters. I never thought Don Marquis was funny. I usually lost interest in watching college basketball with Dad as well. Dad loved basketball. The one time when he seemed a little interested in my advertising career was when I told him I was producing a series of commercials with famed basketball announcer Dick Vitale.

I'm not a Dad myself, but I did a few dad-like things today. I reluctantly hooked up the pressure washer and did my best to clean all the spider webs off the living room windows. Spider webs are almost impossible to remove. The pressure washer will remove paint from the window trim before it will dislodge the pesky spider webs. The webs are full of spiders too. I have to remember to wear a hat when I do this chore, or I will end up with a mess of spiders in my hair. The windows look better now, but this is such a messy job. Water always seeps around the edges of the large single pane glass and I have to mop up water spills on the inside of the house. I wish there was a special paint that repelled spiders. It would be worth repainting the house just to get rid of these nasty insects.

I got a lot of exercise today. We started the day with a long sunrise walk. Dash really enjoys these early morning walks. I went to the gym right after breakfast and did pretty pretty well throwing free throws on the basketball court. Dad would have been surprised that I enjoy shooting baskets. Hey, it's a pleasant way to develop hand eye coordination. I still don't follow the sport. I couldn't fill out a NCAA tournament bracket to save my life.

I don't know how long the windows will stay clean, but I'm not looking forward to cleaning the rest of the house with the pressure washer. I usually do this once a year. Cleaning the exterior of the house and tending to the yard are largely symbolic gestures. Mother nature won this battle many years ago.

The landscaper still hasn't showed up with the replacement grass. I should introduce him to the roofer. These two guys are peas in a pod.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2879 - Veteran's Day

Every year at this time I see an enormous number of pictures of men and women in uniform on my Facebook feed. These are my friends parents and grandparents. I did a little looking and found my own picture as well. My Dad served in the Navy during World War II. So did my Mom. It doesn't take long to realize that something in this country has fundamentally changed. Although almost everybody I know has a picture of a parent in uniform, almost none of the people posting these pictures has served themselves. I wonder what it means when we all say "thank you for your service," but haven't spent any time in the military? Do we even know what service means?

I'm not being critical. I never served. I had a low draft number, but I fell rock climbing in college and was reclassified 4F. To this day, my injury seems like a lucky accident. I'm glad that I never got sent to Vietnam. I didn't understand why we were there at the time, and after watching the Ken Burns documentary recently, I still don't understand. What did this needless loss of life prove? Vietnam is a tourist destination now. We consider the country a trading partner. I have shirts and shoes in my closet that were made there.

Even though I think most wars are pointless and never seem to bring lasting peace, I still admire the generation before me that believed in service. There was a sense of honor and integrity about my parent's generation that we seem to have lost. My Dad was always proud of his service in the Navy. I'm proud of him as well.

Maybe there were parades and ceremonies somewhere in the city, but I didn't see any. There was a lot going on today. I saw people getting ready for a classic car show in the park this morning while I was walking Dash. This evening, I saw people attending an art fair in another section of the park. After doing my grocery shopping, I stopped by a big animal rescue event that I always try to attend. It seemed like there were fewer people than normal, but maybe this was just because I didn't recognize as many. There is a new generation rescuing dogs and cats now. They actually seem to be rescuing everything. I saw groups dedicated to rescuing pigs, rabbits, ferrets, and even fish. Maybe this is what service is all about today. We had a dog when I was a kid, but nobody I knew had even thought about the idea of rescuing them. Since I believe war is a bad thing and saving animals is a good thing, maybe our whole concept of service has evolved into something different.

I'm not sure about what this means for the future. Personally, I care about animals more than I do about people. For the most part, I think people are horrible. I don't think my Dad would have shared this sentiment.

It was still cold today. It didn't rain, but it looked like it could at any point. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to finish my work on the roof. Since this time of year is often rainy, I'll probably be spending every clear, dry day between now and Christmas making repairs one square foot at a time.

We received our advance copies of the 2018 Dalmatian Rescue calendar. Dot looks wonderful on the cover. It really feels like an honor that she was selected. I'll have to show you guys the picture when I get a chance to scan the book.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2733 - Father's Day

Every Father's Day I see all these pictures on Facebook of people with their Dad. I can't recall any pictures of me and my Dad together. Even when I spent a lot of time with him toward the end of his life, we never took a picture together. To be fair, I can't recall any pictures of me and my Mom together either. I don't know what this means, but our family certainly didn't spend a lot of time recording family events.

Maybe this odd tradition continues. Janet and I have taken an enormous number of pictures of our dogs in every conceivable situation, but we have very few pictures of each other. I wouldn't read too much into this. Animals are just more fun to photograph.

I moved the pressure washer to another part of the house this afternoon and continued my quest to clean the exterior. There seems to be a fine line between removing spider webs and removing paint. The exterior paint is old and if I try too hard to remove a stubborn web, I can easily strip the paint away too. I'm going to have to go to a hardware store and see if there is some kind of spray I can apply to keep the spiders from returning. It would be a shame to have invested this much time cleaning the place, only to have all the spiders return in a few weeks.

I wish good house painters weren't so expensive. I've gotten bids several times and have always been appalled at the cost of professionally repainting the house. I repainted the interior myself about eight years ago and I think this might have been the origin of my shoulder problems. Painting the ceilings with a roller was a bitch. About halfway through the job, I discovered a power roller that made the job quicker, but holding a paint filled roller at the end of a long pole was still tiring. Maybe painting the exterior will be easier since there are no ceilings. The exterior walls are mostly brick, so a few wooden walls shouldn't be a huge problem. Oops. I forgot that the long back porch has a ceiling. That's were all the spiders congregate. This area needs some kind of special spider proof paint.

Janet took me out for a birthday dinner tonight, since she'll have to work late tomorrow. Sometimes my birthday falls on Father's Day and even when it doesn't, the two days are always close together. Mom used to say that I was her Father's Day gift to Dad. I think Dad would have preferred a new fishing rod or some wood carving tools. It was enjoyable to go out to dinner for a change. We haven't been out together since Dot got sick and couldn't be left alone. We didn't forget Dash though. We ate early, so there would still be time for an evening walk before it got dark.

The older I get, the less I look forward to birthdays. I'll be 69 tomorrow. Despite what some people say, 69 is not the new 49. The aches and pains are real. I feel old. I look old. I am old. My Mom didn't even live this long, so I really should look at each additional year as a gift. It would be beneficial to develop a positive attitude. Youth is very forgiving to negative people, but it's silly to be negative when you're old. You just don't have that many years left. I don't want to waste the time I've been allotted. There might not be a bucket list, but there is still a lot of stuff I'd like to do.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2645

One of Janet's brothers died this morning. I didn't know this brother well, but it still made me feel like the circle is becoming smaller and smaller. There are few births and marriages to celebrate these days, but there seems to be a continuous parade of funerals. Funerals bother me. I know we all have a limited time on this earth, but it would be nice to know how much time we actually had. So often death comes as a surprise.

I need to get better organized. I'd hate to leave a huge mess for somebody when my time comes. My Dad was so organized that he had his whole service planned in great detail before he died. I was so glad to find the piece of paper with his final wishes on it, because I wouldn't have known what to do. My Dad's sister passed away a few years ago and she was equally organized. I was amazed at how thoughtful she was.

It's kind of a balancing act to acknowledge that death is always nearby, while still concentrating on life. Dot could die in her sleep at any time, but I continue to treat each day as if it were completely normal. I think the fact that Dot still feels like a valued member of the family and still has the opportunity to do some of the things she loved to do when she was younger is why she is still with us today.

Dot has the luxury of having a dedicated full time assistant. Most people don't. My Dad did pretty well until a serious fall put him into a nursing home. Once he lost his house, his freedom, and his day-to-day routine, he went downhill quickly. I think one of the reasons I go to the gym and try my best to stay strong is that I don't want to become weak and frail like my Dad. Having your independence is everything. I can tell that Dot feels the same way. We work together well to keep her moving, but from time to time I see frustration in her eyes as I pick up her harness to lift her rear legs. She loves wandering around the back yard and smelling things, but she would much rather do it on her own.

I wonder why young people never join my gym. It is one of the best facilities in town, but I continue to think I'm the youngest member. There was a guy who used to walk on a treadmill next to me who always wore a t-shirt that said "I wish I was still 80." I haven't' seen this guy in a while. He probably died. I'm sure that watching old people work out gives me a distorted view of my own progress. I think I'm doing great because the people next to me are barely moving. These people are determined though. It's kind of inspiring. If I'm still going to the same gym ten years from now, I'm sure I'll be just as slow as they are.

So far, the switch to Daylight Savings Time hasn't saved me anything. I didn't get any more sleep. I didn't get any more done. I didn't even bother to reset the clocks. Tomorrow I'll be more organized. I have no choice. It's time to get started working on my taxes.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2102

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to stay connected. 95% of all the phone calls I receive are telemarketers. Nomorobo takes care of a lot of the nuisance calls, but I continue to be amazed at how persistent some people are. Some telemarketers still continue to call several times a day. Do these people really think I'm an idiot? My e-mail is just as bad. There are industrial strength spam filters on both the server and my local e-mail client and still a lot of the spam manages to get through. I never even open these messages, but some of the headers are so preposterous that it makes you wonder what the spammers were thinking. Are there really that many people out there who are dumb as rocks and would fall for these schemes? Maybe there are. I don't think these guys would be so persistent if people weren't falling onto their traps.

I've noticed that the daily bombardment of e-mail spam and telemarketing messages has steadily increased as I grow older. I'm sure they're thinking that if they keep trying, eventually I'll become senile and pick up the phone. It happened to my Dad. He was a brilliant scientist, but when senility began to cloud his brain, he fell for one of those Nigerian scams where someone will tell you that they won the Canadian lottery, but can't claim the prize because they can't afford to pay the tax. They offer to share the lottery winnings with their unsuspecting victim, if he or she will help them pay the tax. I don't know how my Dad fell for such a preposterous scheme, but he was living alone and couldn't resist picking up the phone. He lost everything he made selling his house a few years earlier. If the FBI hadn't stepped in and warned his bank to block large withdrawals, he would have lost even more.

It's sad that the world has come to this. Instead of being open and inclusive, you are forced to put up barriers. I find it hard to trust anyone in today's world. When I'm driving I feel like everyone else on the road is driving without a license or insurance. In Dallas I have good reason to feel this way. I wasn't happy when the Ebola outbreak hit our city a few years ago, because it seemed like someone let down their guard. When I watch the current European refugee crisis on TV, I am convinced that there are ISIS members cleverly mixed in with the hordes of people who are just trying to escape some very horrible conditions. Sometimes I'm envious of friends who go out to Burning Man for a week and manage to convince themselves that the world is full of rainbows and unicorns. I'm pretty observant and I just don't see much to be encouraged about.

Dot certainly didn't provide a lot of encouragement today. She seemed tired. We had to slow down the treadmill a bit during her physical therapy session because she just didn't have the energy. She was only able to go fifteen minutes this week. It's hard to keep the balance of exercise and rest just right. Maybe it was just the weather. It was warmer today and Dot had gotten used to the cooler weather we were having earlier in the week. We'll rest tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll rest tonight as well.

We'll see how tomorrow goes. Dash has a cancer re-check in the morning and I'm not anticipating any problems. He certainly seems healthy now. I've already taken this week's trash out to the curb and am hoping that the truck empties my entire can this time. Friday's are usually good. No matter what happens, I know I can depend on a good breakfast.
 

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1643 - Father's Day

Sometimes I think I must have been raised by wolves. I look at all the nostalgic pictures and family remembrances I see on days like this and am a little stunned that I have no vivid childhood memories of my own. I do remember my Dad's later years very well when our roles became reversed. I also have vivid memories of my college days and of my first ten years as a working professional. To me, these were my formative years. My actual childhood is a bit murky. I never saved many pictures either. I certainly didn't have a bad childhood. There were lots of Summer car trips to national parks. I remember Swanson's TV dinners, dressing up for church on Sunday, and a black and white television in the living room where we watched Gunsmoke and the Ed Sullivan Show. I'm sure there was more, but those early memories never mutated into nostalgia. They just evaporated.

Maybe my fuzzy memories are for the best. A lack of reverence for the past never seemed to hinder me in life. I'm often amused to hear others extoll the benefits of living in the moment. I think I've spent most of my life living in the moment. It's only recently that I've started thinking about the past at all. I don't even think this is nostalgia. It's just the realization that 2014 is not my favorite point in history. I think I enjoyed the years between 1960 and 1980 a lot better. Those years were great. I hope my Dad enjoyed those years as well, but I'll never know. I wasn't there.

Dogs didn't enter my life until 1987, but they've been the focal point ever since. I remember more about the time I've spent with Spot, Petey, Greta, Dot, and Dash than I do about myself. The Dalmatians aren't a substitute for family, or an escape from family, they are my family. I am thrilled that Dash is winning his battle with cancer. Dot's incredible determination in the face of old age is an inspiration. I worry about them a lot. In an odd way, I'm their Dad.

Yesterday's website design insights proved to be short lived. When I uploaded everything to the server, my solution didn't work the way I expected. I had made a very small mistake yesterday, but it took me a very long time today to discover what I'd done wrong. After wasting three long hours looking for the source of my stupidity, I finally got the site working again. Sure hope my client likes what I've done.

This unexpected website troubleshooting cut my trip to the gym a bit short this afternoon, but I guess a short workout is a lot better than no workout at all. The dogs got a nice walk today and Janet and I had a very enjoyable dinner. I've got no complaints at all. It's been a nice weekend. Maybe the website troubleshooting gave my brain a workout. It could certainly use one.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1001 - 9/11

I wonder why the bad memories are the most indelible? While many of my most pleasant memories have faded away, I'll never forget the day the dogs and I were attacked by another dog and Dash was almost killed. I still vividly remember hearing six shots right outside my front door back when Janet and I were first dating, as police shot and killed an intruder in the neighborhood. Although it was many years ago, it seems like yesterday when I sat alone for 45 minutes in the mortuary with my Dad shortly after he died. 9/11 is like this for me. On a Tuesday morning eleven years ago the unthinkable happened and I will never forget it.

That fateful day changed our lives in ways that most of us still don't fully appreciate. An innocence was lost that morning that I don't think will ever be recovered. That was the day that privacy became an anachronism as well. We don't even question the cameras on every street corner now. We don't question being poked, prodded and scanned at airports. These intrusions have just become part of life as we know it. The two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan didn't really accomplish much, but they did set the stage for something much more effective.

Robotic drones were developed that quietly observed everything and just as quietly eliminated the bad guys one by one. Nobody seemed to mind the drones. They have been so successful that they are starting to be used domestically. The border patrol uses them. So do some police departments. As technology improves, these drones will continue to get smaller and more sophisticated. There will be a day when the drones are as small as mosquitoes and will be used to quietly poison their victims. No bombs required. I have mixed feeling about all this. I like the idea of being able to selectively and almost invisibly eradicate evil, but it puts a huge responsibility on the folks flying these things. We are still human. One day, a distraught controller will go rogue and use a drone to kill his ex-wife and then everything will start to unravel.

When I took this picture of the New York skyline looking out my hotel window at the UN Plaza in the mid-1980's, the world was a simpler place. I wish I could go back to those days. I was much less cynical when the twin towers were full of life. I couldn't afford to go to Windows on the World, but I liked to ride the elevators to the top of the towers and look out over the city. The last time I was in New York, I just looked down at a deep hole and mourned.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 915 - Father's Day

Since I've never had children myself, Father's Day has always been pretty much of a non-event. Even when I was a kid, I can't remember Father's Day being a big deal like Mother's Day. We had a good Dad, so probably we should have paid more attention to him. Dad was a quiet man and it was easy to forget he was around. Of course there's always the possibility that he talked a lot to everyone else but me. I just don't remember. He certainly knew how to keep a secret. I'm convinced that he took a lot of secrets to the grave with him. He made a lot of trips to Nevada in the 1950's when the government was testing atomic weapons in the desert near Las Vegas.  We used to live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee when we were little kids too, but I never did learn what he was doing. Maybe there really were flying saucers in Roswell. Men like my Dad didn't talk.

I'm just the opposite. I'll blather on about anything. I love to gossip and have a rather tenuous grip on reality. I've learned to recognize this odd worried look that bosses and co-workers get whenever I open my mouth. Janet occasionally gets this look as well. I may be a slow learner, but I'm not stupid. When I see the worried look now, I just shut up and say nothing. It's probably for the best.

The dogs had a great time at the dog park today. I guess they always have a great time. It's too bad the place is so far away, or I'd take them everyday. Dot and Dash have learned the route by now. They bark to tell us which freeway exit to take and they bark some more if we aren't driving fast enough. I wish I were as easy to please as a dog. When we take the pair to the dog park and let them off their leashes for an hour, they're happy as clams for the rest of the day.

Even though I'm not a Dad, I did dad-like things today. I mowed the grass and ate barbecued ribs for dinner. It was a good day, even though Dot and Dash may beg to differ. They both got a bath today.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 895 - Memorial Day

My Mom was from a military family, Her Dad was a career army officer and both her brothers were air force fighter pilots. My own Dad fought in the Pacific during World War II and my Mom served in the WAVES as a parachute rigger. That was the end of the family's military service. I don't think any member of the Sealander clan has served in the military since. I have tremendous respect for our armed forces. They are the best of the best. I'm not so sure I have the same respect for the politicians who have sent these brave man and women into battle recently. So many have died and absolutely nothing has been accomplished. The Crusades didn't solve any problems in the Middle East and neither has any subsequent war. As soon as we leave Iraq and Afghanistan, these countries will revert to exactly the way they were before we arrived. I don't think you should get into a war unless you are willing to win it convincingly. Harry Truman was the last president who knew how to win a war convincingly.

The park was filled with holiday revelers today. I don't think many of these people were honoring our troops, since most of them appeared for be from foreign countries. They were just families who had a day off from work and wanted to enjoy the nice weather with a little barbecue. There were helicopters  hovering over the park all day today. At first I though this was some strange new police surveillance program, but I learned later that a carjacker had fled to the top of a nearby construction crane when cornered and is currently involved in a standoff with the police. I think this confrontation is still going on. The carjacker has a gun and is sitting a hundred and fifty feet up in the air, so the police are cordoning off entire neighborhoods. The helicopters I saw were actually news helicopters using long telephoto lenses to record the ongoing action. I don't think the police would let them get any closer than the area where they were hovering over the park.

All this drama didn't prevent me from having a fairly dull day. I got caught up on a few writing jobs. I took my caulking gun up on the roof and looked for cracks where water might get in. I refinished an old cedar chest that Dot had scratched up. I even cleaned the toilets. Tomorrow, it will be back to business as usual. Pretty soon it will be June. Hard to believe the year is half over already.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day