Day 3652

It was a very quiet day. I was going to watch one episode of The Expanse per day during this holiday week, but I've already completely finished Season 4. That didn't take long. After breakfast I started washing the windows on the house. This will take a while. The windows certainly needed a good cleaning. It's a messy job because you have to clear away all the spider webs first. The living room windows do look better now, but my shoulder feels worse. I finished the back of the house, but the rest will have to wait. Maybe I'll do some more tomorrow, or maybe not. It depends on the weather.

It was such a nice day today that I thought I'd try to patch a few more areas on the roof. To my surprise, there was still some standing water. Where did that come from? I don't even think it has rained recently. I found a few dry areas to patch, but I'll have to go back later when the roof is completely dry. There's not a lot more I can do anyway. Most of the bad spots have already been patched and I'm almost out of silicon.

The only clue I had that it was Christmas Eve was the number of families walking together in the park. It must be a Christmas tradition for some to take a family walk. I never see large family groups walking together unless it's a holiday. I'll have to admit that it was a good day for a walk. The skies were clear and the temperature was almost seventy degrees.

I was expecting a lot of swelling and discomfort after getting my shingles shot, but so far I've felt nothing at all. My theory is that I took a long walk right after getting the shot and maybe this caused the vaccine to disburse throughout my body more rapidly. On the other hand, maybe I just don't react to this particular vaccine. The pneumonia shot I got earlier this year did make my arm sore, but I guess all medicines are different. I'm fine with no reaction. It will make taking the second shot easier.

The stock market is doing a lot better than it was last year at this time. The roof is just the same however. I actually think I was up on the roof patching things with the silicon material last Christmas Eve. The big difference is that Dash isn't here. I really miss that dog. He was headed downhill last Christmas, but he could still walk and was eating fairly well. We never dreamed that he would only make it until April.

I doubt that I'll do anything special tomorrow. I don't really feel like it. I'll make my smoothie and take my long walk. That's enough. It's too bad I already squandered the TV show I was waiting to watch. Binge watching is kind of like eating too much for dinner. You regret it afterwards.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2141

Dash is much better today. The swelling has gone down on his paw and he's walking more or less normally again. He remembers where the bee stung him and won't walk in that section of the park. He's a nervous dog, but he's a very smart dog who learns from his experiences. I wouldn't walk on that trail either if I'd been stung yesterday. I had been thinking about making another vet appointment because Dash had been having some digestion issues last week, but that problem seems to have resolved itself. Dash is eating normally again. He's about as normal as he's going to get.

I didn't see the cluster of three planets this morning, because the sky was very overcast. It wasn't raining though. That's always a good thing. By around 10:30 this morning the blue sky I was hoping for suddenly materialized and it was nice for the rest of the day. Since it was a typical slow Monday, I used this opportunity to clear off the roof again. You would think that I could find better things to do with my time than to spend it perpetually removing water from the roof. Maybe. I can tell you one thing. Once you've had a bad water leak with sections of wet sheet rock falling from the ceiling, you never really trust water or your roof again. I'll always be looking over my shoulder when it rains.

Although my website business has slowed down quite a bit, I still get update requests every couple of days. Most of these updates are simple and don't provide much of a challenge. Sadly, they don't provide much of an income either. I keep hoping that these maintenance clients will spread my name around and one of their friends will eventually bring me a big new project that will keep me busy for months. That probably isn't going to happen though. Everybody has a website these days, but not everybody needs one. Some of my clients look at their website like an electronic Yellow Pages ad. Others have forgotten that they even have a website until I remind them. It can be discouraging to realize that you're not exactly setting the world on fire. On the other hand, it's kind of nice to have clients who still keep using you even though they don't need you at all.

I'm getting to the age where I see far too many obituaries. I see most of these notices on Facebook, because that's where you see everything these days. I haven't subscribed to a newspaper in years. Most of my college teachers have died by now. Many of my former ad agency bosses and early mentors have passed away as well, including one more today. It's kind of sobering to realize what a limited amount of time we have on this planet. Whenever I read that a friend or co-worker has died, I renew my resolve to put my remaining years to good use. This resolve usually lasts about an hour and then I revert to my old ways.

Apple is really getting sloppy about its upgrade program. During the past two weeks I have installed three different IOS upgrades to my phone plus another two upgrades for my watch. I just installed another Apple Watch upgrade this afternoon. Each of these upgrades was designed to fix a series of flaws and omissions found in the previous upgrade. I wish they'd tested these patches before they released them. I'd rather wait a little longer than hurry to install software that is full of bugs.

There will be one more chance to see Mars, Jupiter, and Venus packed into a tight little triangle tomorrow morning. The best viewing time was today, unless you had a sky full of thick clouds like we did. Maybe we'll get lucky tomorrow. Clear skies, no dog poop in the house, and a new job in my morning e-mail: that would be my tight little triangle.

Pearl is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2127

I was industrious today. I found someone in Los Angeles who can repair my broken watch winder and I found someone right in my own neighborhood who can repair my multi-track tape recorders. The broken recorder is housed in a five foot tall 19" equipment rack that served as my recording studio for many years. I thought it would be an easy job to unscrew the recorder and pull it out of the rack, but I was wrong. When I removed the screws from the front panel, the recorder wouldn't budge. I pulled the heavy metal cabinet away from the wall and looked behind it. It was only then that I remembered the countless hours I spent carefully bundling the maze of interconnected wires and cables together and securing them in place with zip ties. The installation looked neat and tidy, but it had been built for permanence, not convenience. I had to carefully cut the plastic zip ties and remove all the wires connected to the recorder before I could extract the machine from the rack. The whole process took two hours.

I looked on Google to see if I could still find instruction manuals for the equipment in the audio rack and was surprised to discover that some of it had acquired vintage status over the years and was quite desirable. This gave me an added incentive to fix the broken stuff, but I still don't know if restoring the studio will be worth the time, effort and money it is going to take. All this equipment represents a moment in time that has passed. I probably wrote and recorded at least a hundred songs using the equipment I was disassembling today. The last tape I worked on was still in the machine. It was dated February 17, 1986. The label on the tape was printed using a dot matrix printer. The Internet, blogging, and almost everything I do today didn't even exist back then. Maybe all I'm trying to save are the memories.

I feel the same way about film. I used to love taking pictures on film. There was an art to getting the exposure just right. You couldn't fix things in Photoshop. The whole process of going into a darkroom and coming out hours later with wonderful images was absolute magic to me. I never felt the same when I made the inevitable transition to the digital world. I use Pro Tools and Avid Media Composer to put commercials and videos together now. I'm a wizard with Photoshop. There is no magic in these digital tools though. Elvis has left the building. I have a few friends who have embraced this brave new world, but it's not for me. Give me an analog tape recorder, a 4x5 Sinar camera, and an IBM Selectric typewriter and I'm a happy camper.

Actually this is a lie. Give me these old things and I'm not happy at all. There's nobody left to fix them. Keeping vintage equipment running and properly maintained is a giant hassle. I used to know lots of camera repairmen, watch repairmen, and tape machine technicians. For the most part, they're all gone. I bet it will take over a month just to find the rubber parts to fix my tape machine. I have friends who used to collect vintage watches who have given up the hobby for these reasons. If it takes two years to get a watch fixed, what's the point in even having it?

Old dogs are hard to fix too, but at least they provide companionship. I was happy to see that Dash was steadier on his feet today. I don't know why today was a good day and yesterday was a bad day, but I'll take any good day I can get. Maybe Dash is learning to pace himself better. He walked slower today and didn't limp nearly as much. I'm doing a better job of keeping him from scratching the ground after he pees too.  Tomorrow we go back to the vet for another evaluation. I have a feeling that we're going to have to see an orthopedic specialist, but we'll see how tomorrow goes.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2103

Sometimes when I take Dash to the vet, I think I should be taking him to a psychiatrist instead. He used to ride nicely in the car, but now he barks and whines and generally is a nuisance until we arrive at our destination. Dash acted this way when we first adopted him and it took a long time to convince him that car rides were the gateway to dog parks and other fun activities where he got to play with other dogs. Eventually he grew to like the car. Now, after all his cancer treatments, he has reverted to his original fear of traveling in cars. It's too bad he doesn't know or understand the full story. The place he was whining about visiting today saved his life.

Dash sailed through his six month recheck with flying colors. There was no evidence that the cancer has returned and his oncologist said he looked like a healthy and happy dog. We don't have to go back for another re-check until February of next year.

I need to see how much time I've got left on my car's warranty. For over two years the car has performed flawlessly. No problems at all. Now, I'm beginning to hear squeaks and rattles that I've never heard before. This is usually not a good sign. On any other car I've ever owned, the squeaks and rattles were never a problem until the day after the warranty ran out. Then they miraculously turned into a major repair almost overnight. What makes these squeaks and rattles even worse is that they are sporadic. Sporadic problems never show their ugly face at the dealership. You describe the problem in detail and then when the mechanic takes the car for a test drive, nothing appears to be wrong. The mechanic thinks you're nuts. Then on the way home, the problem reoccurs. This happens so consistently that it drives me nuts.

The car isn't the only thing that is showing it's age. We've got a sodium vapor security light in the back yard that flickers on and off all night. Whenever the air conditioner compressor cuts in, the lamp cuts out. The flickering light wakes me up at night occasionally and when it randomly goes on and off while the dogs are outside, they think it is lightning and it scares them. I finally broke down and called our electrician today. I always hate to call the electrician to fix something this simple because electricians are notoriously expensive. Unfortunately, the pole the lamp is attached to is located right next to where the power lines comes into the house from the street. I'm always afraid that if I attempt to replace the lamp myself, I will slip and touch the power lines and electrocute myself. I guess it's worth paying the electrician.

There a brand new Dr. Who episode tomorrow evening. Last year I waited and waited for the new series to begin and was almost immediately disappointed. Hopefully Season nine will be better. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are both back for another year. A lot of people seem to think that Peter Capald is edgy and great, but I still like Matt Smith better. In my humble opinion Vincent and the Doctor was the best episode ever. There wasn't a single episode in season eight that even came close. I'll still watch the show tomorrow though. What better have I got to do?

I hope the dogs let us sleep in tomorrow morning. After a week of getting up in the middle of the night to clean up poop, I need a break. According to my fitness band, I'm hardly getting any sleep at all.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2042

We took Dash to a dog park for small dogs this morning in hopes that the little dogs wouldn't scare him and he would have more fun. Since Dash isn't that small, we were a bit worried that somebody might object to him being there. Nobody had a problem with Dash. It quickly became apparent that he was the most timid dog in the park. Pretty soon a bunch of Yorkies were chasing him around with his tail tucked between his legs. It's a shame that Dash has lost his nerve. He used to love going to the dog park and would frequently find other timid dogs to play with. I think Dot gave him confidence. They always used to do everything together and as long as she was around to protect him, he had a lot more confidence. Sadly, Dot's dog park days are over. Dash will have to find another way to build his confidence back. It's not going to be easy. Dash was attacked by an aggressive dog when he was young and almost died. I don't think he will ever forget the experience.

I took some more stuff to the storage warehouse on my way to the gym this afternoon. Most of the stuff that gets relegated to storage these days are things that Janet wants out of the house. She is trying to declutter. I have little interest in decluttering. I just fantasize about having a huge place where I could spread out and never have to put things away. There would be a big room for music and another even bigger room for photography. I would have a quiet room for writing, a room with powerful computers for developing websites, and a huge kitchen with lots of shelves for pots and pans. We don't have any of these things, so I am constantly taking things out of closets and putting them away again when I'm done. I don't understand the tiny house movement at all. I want lots and lots of space.

My Sunday workouts must be doing me a little bit of good, because they don't seem quite as onerous  as they did a month ago. I still feel like packing up and going home during the first ten minutes, but then my heart rate starts to increase, I begin to sweat, and everything settles into a rhythm. After about an hour, I begin to think that just maybe, going to the gym isn't as bad as I thought it was.

Our U-verse service has gotten flaky again, so I'm going to need to have a service technician come over and check things out tomorrow. I hate it when the cable guy comes over. When I have plumbing or HVAC problems, the repair people usually stick to one room. The cable folks are all over the place though, and the dogs hate it. Now that Dot is weak and has trouble walking, having service technicians of any kind at the house is an even bigger problem than it used to be. When Dot gets upset, she poops. I'm sure she's going to poop in the house tomorrow.

When we were walking the dogs this morning, I noticed that all the neighbors had stacks of brush and trash stacked near the curb in their front yards. It must be time for big trash day again. If I've got time tomorrow, I need to gather up the fallen tree branches, dead bedding plants, and other junk that has accumulated in the yard since the last big trash day and take them out to the curb myself. With only one bulky trash pickup a month, it can be easy for things to get out of control. Monday's aren't usually very busy, so I should have plenty of time to do this. Oh wait, the cable guy is coming over. I won't have any time at all.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1876

I don't know what possessed me to start editing video again. I learned to edit many years ago using a Media 100 editing system. This software has been obsolete for so long that no computers I currently use will even run it. I loved Media 100 and used it faithfully during my most prolific years as a producer. The company was bought and sold several times and eventually just disappeared. I was forced to turn to Final Cut Pro and learn a whole new way of editing. Just when I was getting good with Final Cut Pro, Apple abandoned it in favor of a whole new platform called Final Cut Pro X. You wouldn't think that adding an X at the end of the name would change much, but it changed everything. I hate Final Cut Pro X.

I still try to edit using the old version of Final Cut Pro, which hasn't been updated in years. When I'm in a hurry, I often find myself trying to use techniques that only work in Media 100. It's a sad case of old dogs and new tricks. To make matters worse, many of the keyboard shortcuts in Final Cut Pro 7.0 only work with an old style keyboard with a numeric keypad. I haven't used one of those large, wired keyboards in years. Nevertheless, I stumbled through the day, relearning tricks and techniques on the fly. By the end of the day, I had a rough cut put together that seemed to flow reasonably smoothly from beginning to end. Sadly, I could have finished three videos in the same amount of time ten years ago using a slower computer and some rather rudimentary editing software.

This is why I mostly stick to writing these days. As long as you continue to write frequently, your writing skills don't tend to become obsolete. Working with technology is another story entirely. I've got entire shelves in the office filled with perfectly good software that is no longer supported. There's nothing wrong with this software. It just just won't run, mostly because today's modern operating systems won't recognize it. The early versions of Microsoft Word and Photoshop were just fine by me. Ten versions later, they both have become huge bloated monsters that take a long time to load and require huge hard drives. Most of my other business software is the same way. I'm tired of re-learning how to edit video or code websites every three years, but you've really got no choice. Software companies don't want you to continue using the same applications for decades. They want to sell you something new and bigger, with even more features. Now, they don't even sell you the software. You just subscribe to it, so they can keep changing things on a weekly basis.

I had plans to get out today, but they never materialized. There were so many false starts in my editing project that I only had time to walk the dogs and go to the bank. It wasn't a bad day. There were no looming deadlines and nobody was screaming at me. I just sat quietly at my desk wishing I had a time machine. Frustration was definitely the word of the day. Talk to me in a week and I'm sure I'll be up to speed on Final Cut Pro again. Maybe I'll have to buy a numeric keypad, or maybe I already have one in the storage warehouse somewhere. The video will get done though, and it will be nice.

Dash goes back to the cancer center for his regular three month re-check tomorrow. There's a little growth on his tail that I want them to check. I don't think it is anything to worry about, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. After a full year of treatment, I'm not ready for any more surprises.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day.

Day 1793

I need to get a life. I was so disappointed today when the HVAC guys canceled my service appointment. Yes, I was actually looking forward to getting a thermostat installed. I kept thinking that if they could land a spacecraft on a comet 300 million miles away today, it shouldn't be that hard to drive twenty miles to put my talking thermostat in. In fairness, it was a very cold day. The dispatcher told me they were only taking "call for heat" emergency appointments today. This happens every year. The first night it drops below freezing, thousands of people turn on their furnace for the first time and quite a few of them discover that it doesn't work. Having been one of those people in previous years, I could sympathize with the HVAC guys heavy work load today. I'll just wait until it gets a little warmer to get the thermostat put in.

I watched the live feed of the comet landing this morning and immediately wanted one of the cool looking chairs the flight controllers were sitting in at the European Space Agency Center in Germany. I did a Google search for the impressive looking chairs, but couldn't find anything. I bet the chairs are German. If Porsche made a chair, it would look like this. The mission itself was much more impressive than the chairs. The fact that we have the ability to land a spacecraft the size of a washing machine on a small 2 mile wide rock over 300 million miles away that happens to be traveling toward the sun at over 30,000 miles an hour is simply astonishing. Kudos to the team that put this astounding ten year journey together. Not only is the technology amazing, the math involved to ensure that the spacecraft arrived at the right place at the right time after its ten year journey just blows me away. I wish I was smart enough to figure something like this out. When I was young, I thought I wanted to be an astronomer myself. I wasn't very good at math though and picked a profession where no rocket science was involved.

Dash has a delicate stomach, so it's been hard finding the perfect food for him. Some brands of dog food make his poop runny. Others cause crystals to form in his urine or make him gain weight. We finally found the perfect diet and then the pet food stores stopped carrying it. Janet usually picks up food for the dogs, but since the HVAC guys canceled on me today, I had some extra time and decided to go look for the elusive brand myself. After an extensive search, I found nothing. The manufacturer still makes the food, but apparently Dash is the only dog in town that eats it. One store has promised to special order a thirty pound bag for us, but so far the order has never arrived. It's frustrating. We've got about three more days before Dash has to start eating Dot's food. That didn't work out too well the last time we tried it, so hopefully something will turn up soon.

Work has been kind of slow this week. Things always slow down as we approach Christmas. It's kind of a shame, because the colder it gets, the more sitting at a computer and writing seems like a good way to spend the day. I spent a little time updating websites today, but actually I spent more time looking for dog food. It was that kind of day.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1764

I drove past the Ebola hospital on my way to pick up Dash from his follow-up exam at the cancer center and was a bit surprised to see that everything seemed absolutely normal. By the non-stop coverage this event is getting on TV, I was expecting to see dozens of satellite trucks and reporters camped out all over the place. I didn't see anything. If I didn't know better, I never would have guessed that this was ground zero.

The hospital may have seemed normal, but a few blocks further down the road I saw something that didn't seem normal at all. There was a car ahead of me that appeared to have stalled out at a busy intersection. I got in another lane so I could get around the car and then I saw a woman next to me get out of her car, run over to the motionless car in front of me, and bang loudly on the window. All of the sudden I see a guy sit up in the driver's seat, shake his head from side to side for a few seconds, and then drive away. The guy had fallen asleep in his car, right in the middle of busy traffic.

Dash got a great report from his oncologist today. His chest x-ray looked clear, his physical exam went well, and all his blood values were normal. The doctor still wanted dash to continue his chemotherapy though. He said that he would understand if we wanted to quit, but that if it were his dog, he would continue the treatment for a full year. He said that even though it appeared that Dash was cancer free, thyroid cancer was very aggressive and that he though it would be better to be safe than sorry. I reluctantly agreed. We've come this far. We might as well go all the way. Dash tolerates the Palladia pills very well and so far the only negative side effects appear to be financial. The pills are quite expensive.

I had some extensive website updates to make today, but there was still a little time to fiddle around with the new generator. I got the cover off, filled the unit with the proper amount of engine oil and mixed the special ethanol destroying enzyme in the gasoline. That's as far as I got before I ran out of time. After spending more than an hour getting things ready, I didn't even start the generator.

I got another writing assignment toward the end of the day, so it looks like I'll be writing again tomorrow. There's a growing pile of bills to pay as well. Maybe I'll finally start the new generator, but it's not very high on my priorities list.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1763

The rainy season must have started. We had another overnight downpour that ended around daybreak. With the rain came much cooler temperatures. I don't think it got much above sixty degrees all day. I thought the dogs would like the cooler weather, but they didn't like the wind that came with it. The wind blew relentlessly from the West all day. The lights flickered a bit during strong gusts and the Internet connection went dead for a short amount of time, but we never lost power.

Seeing the trees swaying in the back yard provided the incentive I needed to finally read the instruction manual that came with the generator. There were so many things I needed to do before I could actually fire the generator up that I decided to postpone the inaugural run until the weather got warmer. I knew I had to add oil, but I didn't realize that I needed to unscrew and remove the entire left side of the unit to get access to the oil filler tube. I knew I needed to add a special enzyme to the gas to remove the ethanol, but I didn't realize that it was also important for the generator to be grounded before using it. Now I'll have to go back to Home Depot and buy a copper rod and some electrical wire so I can properly ground the unit. In many ways this all seems like more trouble than it's worth, since the small generator will only power a few things at a time anyway. In many ways I'd just as soon get inside a warm sleeping bag with the dogs and just wait till the power came back on.

Since it kept getting colder and colder throughout the day, I finally broke down and turned the furnace on. Amazingly, it started on the first try and the house was warm again in less than an hour. I'm always a little apprehensive the first time I start the furnace for the Winter. Half the time it refuses to start and I have to make a call to the HVAC guys to come out an make a service call. Hopefully, the success I had today is a good omen for the Winter. I'm tired of fixing things and it would be nice to have a warm and trouble free house this year.

Today would have been a good day to get caught up on work, but since I was already caught up, I watched one of the Dr. Who episodes I had recorded on the DVR instead. Kill the Moon was a strange show, based on the idea that the moon was actually a giant egg that was about to hatch. This premise wasn't even remotely believable and I continue to be disappointed in the new season. The production values are fantastic, but the scripts are terrible and Clara and the doctor don't seem like very good companions. Maybe I should give up on this show and start watching The Walking Dead like everyone else.

Dash goes back to the cancer center tomorrow for a chest x-ray and follow-up exam. He has one of these follow-up exams about every three months now and I keep hoping that at some point, his oncologist will declare him officially cured. I bet they'll want to continue the chemotherapy a while longer though. That's just the way doctors are.

Firedogs are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1656

The dogs both got a long overdue bath this morning. The combination of Dash's cancer treatment and Dot's advancing age has meant that the dogs have been a little dirtier lately. Since they both sleep on the bed with us at night, there comes a point when a bath is necessary though. It's hard to sleep when your dog stinks. What amazed me today was how good Dash has become about getting a bath. He hopped right into the tub at the Dirty Dawgz self-bathe place and didn't put up a fuss at all. This would have seemed impossible a year ago. I think going back and forth for radiation treatments all Spring has changed Dash. He trusts people more now and is much more accepting of things. After all he's been through, he probably realizes now that a bath isn't going to hurt him at all.  Our boy is growing up.

After we returned home with two clean, good smelling dogs, I went up on the roof to remove the standing water from the rain we had earlier in the week. I tried to make sure that the runoff went on the lawn, instead of into the street, since I didn't want the code compliance guy getting on my case again. The water did eventually drain into the street anyway, but it evaporated quickly, since it was a hot day.

I then went to the grocery store and bought another case of bottled water. We go through the stuff, well, like water. I don't remember when, or why, we stopped drinking water out of the tap, but it's been a long time. There is even one of those ice-water dispensing gizmos in the door of the refrigerator, but I don't use that either. I know our water is perfectly safe, because we fill the dogs water bowls with tap water all the time. Drinking bottled water is just one in a long list of totally irrational things I do every day.

We didn't get any mail today. That was strange. You can usually count on the post office to deliver a steady stream of flyers and junk from mattress stores, politicians, Bed Bath and Beyond, and AARP. Most of this stuff goes straight to the trash without even being opened, but still it's nice to know that the postman is making his appointed rounds.

"What are you going to write on your blog tonight, since nothing happened today?" Janet asked me during dinner. "So," I said. "That has never stopped me before."

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1615

The gym is always empty on nice sunny days. I guess most active people prefer to be outside on days like this. Inside is fine by me. The temperature is a constant 72 degrees, the air is filtered, and the lighting is subdued. I don't have any problems with Spring allergies when I go to the gym. Outdoors it's a completely different story.

I spent quite a while outdoors this morning, sneezing and wiping my watering eyes the entire time. I got a long pole saw and decided to remove the remaining dead limbs on the two Live Oak trees in the back yard myself. I thought the tree guys would have taken care of this when they came over a couple of months ago, but apparently these smaller dead limbs weren't in their bid. The landscape guys could have taken care of this too, but it wasn't in their bid either. Heaven forbid that anyone might decide to be proactive and do something extra. I guess that just isn't done these days.

It took quite a while to remove all the small dead limbs the power company guys left up in the trees when they were restoring power after last Winter's ice storm. They made sure that the trees weren't touching the power lines, but they couldn't be bothered to remove the branches they cut. At any rate, the work I did today was probably worth the effort. I bet if I called the tree guys to come back and do this job, they would have charged me $300.

I stopped by Central Market on the way home from the gym. I never used to go to the store this often. Everything changed when I stopped eating out of cans and started eating something fresh every evening. Things don't stay fresh all that long, so I go to the store frequently. I still think that improving my diet has done more to improve my health than anything else I've done. It's definitely been worth the effort.

Dash's health seems to be improving even more dramatically than mine. The skin on his neck is a healthy pink color now and you can barely see the incision scar from the initial surgery. He goes back to the cancer center tomorrow for a post-radiation follow up visit. I hope his doctors think he's doing as well as I think he's doing. After all he's been through this Spring, Dash is making an amazingly recovery.

Next week looks like it's going to be busy. Dash goes to the cancer center on Monday. Dot gets her acupuncture and water therapy on Tuesday. I've got a location photo shoot planned, and there are sure to be the usual writing assignments and website revisions as well. Pretty soon it will be June. Since I'm a Gemini, June is a birthday month. I'd like to say I'm getting wiser, but I'm afraid I'm just getting older.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1608 - Mother's Day

I opted to clean the roof today instead of going to the gym. I really had no choice. When I took a peek at what was up there, it was a soggy mess. Last Thursday's wind and rain had deposited a thick blanket of of catkins, small branches, and leaves that the water had shaped into beaver ponds. This Spring tree debris had trapped all the water and none of it was draining off the roof. By the time I got the roof cleaned up again, I might as well have gone to the gym. The exercise was just as strenuous. I'm always worried that I'll get in a car wreck and the dogs will be left alone in the house for an uncertain amount of time. Probably I should be a bit more worried about falling off the roof.

I went and got groceries for the week this morning. I'm really a terrible shopper. I never make a grocery list and typically just buy what I'm hungry for right now. I tried to be a bit more methodical today, but I still probably bought fruit that will go bad before I get around to eating it and vegetables that I won't eat at all. I carefully try to follow the 80/20 rule where 80% of my diet comes from plant material and 20% from meat protein. I'm eating a lot more vegetables now, but life was so much simpler in my younger years when a similar trip to the store would have resulted in five frozen pizzas, a tub of Blue Bell ice cream, and a case of beer.

Mother's Day is one of those holidays that I probably wouldn't remember if it weren't for Facebook and the thousands of people who use a picture of their mom as their profile picture for the day. I have thousands of pictures of my dogs, but very few of family. Both of my parents passed away quite a few years ago and the memories are rapidly fading. I do still remember that my mother was a remarkable woman. Because I have no long-term memory, I wrote a story about her right after she died. I'm glad I did. Whenever I read this story, I feel lucky to have had a Mom like this, and sad for the way her life ended.

Dash's neck continues to improve. The radiation burn has gone from red, to pink, to a light salmon color. A scab has formed over the worst area and the surrounding skin looks almost normal again. I stopped the Tramadol yesterday evening and he seems just fine without it. Both dogs had lots of energy on their walks today and are in good spirits. There is still a complicated schedule of pills to administer, but so far, so good, on that as well.

I keep hearing on the news that we'll be getting more severe weather tomorrow. No tornadoes are forecast, but there is supposed to be lots of wind and rain. With this kind of forecast, you might think it was ludicrous for me to spend hours clearing the water off the roof this afternoon. Actually, tomorrow's forecast is exactly why I cleared the roof. When there's a heavy rainstorm, you want as much water draining off the edge of the roof as possible. The last thing you want is a beaver pond that just lets the water get deeper and deeper. Hopefully the forecast will get revised as the cold front moves closer. I vote for no rain at all. We've already had enough rain for one month.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1604

It seemed important to catch up on things today. I attacked a big stack of unpaid bills, wrote checks for all of them, and took them to the post office. Utility and telecommunications bills are especially irritating, because they seem to go up almost every month, with no improvement in service whatsoever. I changed my data plan on my phone last month to lower my bill, and just one month later I discover that they've raised my rate on my new "lowered" bill. Very frustrating.

I also got a long overdue haircut this afternoon. With a busy work schedule and lots of dog problems, I haven't had time for anything but the absolute necessities this Spring. A haircut certainly isn't a necessity, but mine was getting so unruly that it was getting pretty close. It's much better now. I'll be able to go out in public for at least another month without embarrassing myself.

Dash continues to improve every day. He is stronger now and is starting to take normal walks again. He still isn't up to speed however, since Dot, who is usually the one who tires out first, is in the lead on our walks these days. This is good in a way, since it's easier now to get both dog's turned around for the trip home when Dot gets tired. It's hard to tell how much the radiation burn on Dash's neck is bothering him, since he is still taking the Tramadol for pain. The wound looks better though. It's not nearly as red and raw looking as it was last week. I don't think it will be too long before we can resume our trips to the dog park and re-join our training class.

It was hard to get excited about my writing assignments today. Call me old fashioned, but I still think the primary purpose of writing should be to educate and entertain. When the primary purpose is just to improve someone's SEO rank, it can get pretty boring. I shouldn't complain about the writing jobs though. The website design work isn't particularly exciting either.

I've started to notice that one-by-one, most of the friends I grew up with are starting to retire. The ones who spent their careers at large corporations or working for the government all retired first. Now, even the people who didn't wind up with a great pension are considering retirement. This includes most people in advertising. You might make a good salary while you're working, but you don't generally take a lot away from the table when you leave. The self-styled artists and the folks who got divorced too often are the only ones who never talk about retirement. Most of them can't afford to retire. I generally put myself in the "artist" category. Maybe that's why I occasionally find myself envying former coworkers who seem to spend all their time traveling the world after they've sold their house and moved to their beautiful mountain or seaside vacation home.

They're still predicting severe storms in the area tomorrow. That's why I got most of my errands taken care of today. If it rains tomorrow, we'll do what we usually do. I'll write articles and revise websites right up until the power goes out.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1601

I got tired of being tired today. I finally got my ass in gear and went down to Fair Park to catch the last day of the Dallas Guitar Show. It was a good day to go, since Janet was home most of the afternoon to keep an eye on the dogs. If you've never been to a guitar show, it's a lot like a classic car show. You'll see a hundred middle aged men before you'll ever see a woman at a guitar show. Lots of guys go to these events, but they're all of a certain age. You'd think that every man between 35 and 60 secretly wanted to be a rock star, because this is who you see at guitar shows. Younger guys go to Comic-Con. Guys like me go to car and guitar shows.

I enjoyed listening to over-the-hill rockers like Andy Timmons and Gary Hoey today. These players aren't exactly household names, but they are revered by other guitar players. I listened to impromptu outdoor concerts by both Andy and Gary this afternoon and discovered why they are both considered to be among the top 100 guitarists of all time. Guitar show concerts are very casual. It's easy to sit right up in front at the frequent concerts and workshops and nobody minds if you come and go as you please. Johnny Winter was the big name on today's bill, but he didn't go onstage until after my dinner time. We all have our priorities.

If I had hung on to the guitars I owned in high school, I could probably retire now. I saw several guitars at the show that were identical to ones I used to play in high school bands. Most were worth at least $4000 now. I can't recall ever paying over $100 for a guitar in high school. I paid for them with money I made mowing lawns. My friends and I never even conceived of the concept of vintage guitars back then. How could we have known that these things would become collectable some day? In high school, guitars were just inexpensive things you bought and sold and occasionally lost or destroyed. My mom gave one of my best guitars to the Goodwill store when I moved out of the house to go to college. Several others suffered equally ignoble fates. Maybe this is why I save everything now.

Dash had a good day. The burn on his neck wasn't quite as red and inflamed today, giving us hope that the ugly wound on his neck will eventually heal and become normal again once he has finished with his radiation treatments. Both dogs had lots of energy and took nice long walks this morning. They didn't want to go anywhere this evening though. It was way too hot. The temperature was over 102 degrees at one point this afternoon. Even in Texas, this is pretty darn hot for early May. Like I have said many times, you can never predict the weather down here. Every day is a new day.

Tomorrow is a milestone day. Dash will receive his very last radiation treatment. They call it graduation day at the cancer center. It's hard to believe that we started this journey back in February. Hopefully, when all is said and done, we will have been able to give Dash back the normal life he deserves. The chemotherapy will continue through the Summer, but the radiation was the roughest part. So far, Dash has shown no side effects whatsoever from the chemotherapy pills. I hope this continues. I need more days like today. I got out of a rut and did something different. Dash got stronger and gave me hope. I didn't even attempt to do any work today. That's the way it ought to be.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1600

There were a ton of events to attend this weekend, but we were too tired to even think about most of them. A decade ago, I could have spent the entire weekend wandering around the big guitar show at Fair Park. It hardly seemed worth it though when I haven't even taken the Stratocaster out of its case in several months. Janet and I usually go to the annual Dalmatian Rescue crawfish boil, even though we never eat crawfish. This year, it all seemed too complicated. Dot can't take the heat anymore. Dash is still too sick from his radiation treatments. The event seemed way too far away this year and both of us were really tired. The event was a  no show.

The only event we made an appearance at today was our vet's Wine on the Roof animal rescue fundraiser. We've gone to this event every year since it started. It's hard to believe it's been thirteen years now. Times have changed. Our house is too full of clutter to bid on silent auction items anymore, and I haven't had a glass of wine in five years. It's still a good cause though, and the event is only a few miles from our house. Janet had some wine. I grabbed a few little sandwiches from the buffet table. And we watched a pet fashion show where dogs and cats were dressed up like characters from fairy tales. Less than an hour and a half later, we were back home.

If I had written the blog earlier in the day, I would be asleep by now. Unfortunately, earlier in the day I was sitting at my desk trying to figure out how to put together the new website that is due on Tuesday. I wish I'd kept my big mouth shut and hadn't told my client that it would be easy to replicate the look of a Wordpress site she likes using HTML. Now, that I'm actually looking at the code, it isn't going to be easy after all. Oh, well. I actually didn't mind working on the website project this afternoon, since my other alternatives were mowing the grass or weeding the gardens. I didn't actually finish the website today as I had hoped, but at least I made significant progress. I did fall asleep at the computer for a while, but it was that kind of day.

Dash had a good day. He wasn't as listless and lethargic as he was yesterday and even seemed to enjoy a short afternoon walk. The pain pills much be working. His neck still looks red and raw, but he isn't trying to scratch at the wound anymore. Hopefully, having a two day rest from the radiation will give him time to rest and relax.

I don't know what we'll do tomorrow. If today was any indication, we'll probably sleep in late. There is still a lot that needs to be done, but I doubt that it all needs to be done tomorrow.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1589

I stopped to get some tickets to a neighborhood tour of homes when I was driving home from the post office today. Unfortunately, they wouldn't take credit cards, so I'll have to make another trip later. Sometimes these local home tours are fun. I know where most of the houses are and and am often curious what they look like on the inside. Our house could easily be on one of these home tours if we had picked designer decor instead of Dalmatians many years ago. I'm glad we picked Dalmatians though, even though they've made a mess of the doors and the furniture.

If you know where to look, you can still see impressions in the woodwork left by Spot's puppy teeth when he was teething.  There is still a giant hole that Petey tore in the carpet while he was trying to dig a hole to China during a thunderstorm. I've conveniently covered up the hole by placing the large format printer on top of it. Greta was the most destructive. She chewed holes in most of the decorative throw pillows in the living room and completely destroyed a beautiful set of Palazzetti Tomasa dinning room chairs. Despite all this, there is no doubt that the dogs have made me a better person. I don't care about all the dents and scratches. It wasn't always this way. If you think I'm OCD now, you should have seen me back in the days when I arranged all the furniture with zen-like precision and didn't even want anyone to sit in it.

We watched a news crew from the local NBC affiliate set up for a live segment on the evening news while we were taking our evening walk. It looked like a big deal because they even had a news helicopter overhead. There's a big controversy right now about building a restaurant in the park. The city wants the restaurant. The neighbors don't. I have a feeling that the neighbors will ultimately lose this battle, but who knows. The city has already turned an arboretum on the other side of the park into a hugely profitable venture. They'd probably like to do the same thing with our section of the park. I'm sure the park department would monetize every square inch of the park if they could get away with it. Personally, I don't mind the idea of a restaurant. I don't like to drive and it would give me a place to eat that I could easily walk to. I do hate the city's efforts to turn the park into an urban entertainment center though. When I first moved to the neighborhood, the park wasn't even on the city's radar. It was largely abandoned and seemed authentically wild and natural. Now it's just becoming a park department version of Disneyland.

Dash sailed though his annual physical with flying colors today. This is usually when he gets his rabies shot and any other necessary vaccinations, but we decided to wait on these until his cancer treatment is finished. Dash has more than enough to deal with right now, without the addition of even more meds that might cause an adverse reaction or additional stress. We'll catch up on the vaccinations later.

Work has been unusually slow this month. Since I had the time, I decided to gather up all the twigs and dead limbs I could find and take them out to the street for bulky trash day. I was surprised that there was still so much brush around the yard to gather up. Wasn't this what I hired the landscape guys to do last month?  At any rate, for the first time in about six months, I managed to get this chore completed before big trash day. I think the trucks are coming to pick things up tomorrow.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1584

I feel like I'm locked in my own personal Ground Hog Day. I've been trying to resolve a website problem for almost two weeks now. I call technical support every morning and talk a cheerful person who seems to understand my problem. He, or she, always says the problem seems easy enough to resolve, but that it will need to be escalated to the next level of support, because they don't have access to the information I need. The next day I get an e-mail saying that my problem has been solved and my ticket has been closed. I then go to the website in question and discover that nothing has changed at all. The problem has definitely not been resolved. I then call tech support again and explain the situation to another friendly person. They apologize for the mix up, telling me that they have reopened my service ticket and that the problem will be resolved properly this time. The next day I get another e-mail saying that my problem has been solved and my ticket has been closed again. Once again, nothing has changed. This has been going on for weeks.

I'm trying to solve a different type of problem with another client and have contacted a developer who supposedly knows all the answers. Today, he sent me detailed instruction, telling me exactly what to do to make the changes my client requested. So far, so good. At the very bottom of the letter was a final paragraph telling me not to do anything to the website during business hours and to be sure to back everything up before I attempt to make any changes. The developer concludes by telling me that if I follow his instructions exactly, I still might crash the entire site. WTF? I was hoping that thy guy would give me an answer, not a roulette wheel.

I went to my hepatologist for another blood test this afternoon. From now on out, these periodic tests are somewhat of a formality. By all indications, the treatment has already worked. These guys are just playing it safe. I will continue to get bi-weekly blood tests until June, and then probably once a year thereafter. One thing I have learned during Dash's cancer treatment and my own Hepatitis-C treatment is that doctors tend to take the amount of medication necessary to resolve a serious problem and then double it, just to make sure. This is especially true with cancer, since there is no definitive way to prove that the cancer will never return.

Maybe I'll have time to get the lawn mower battery replaced tomorrow. I can't put this off too much longer, since the grass is still growing. Dash has another radiation treatment in the morning and I have an appointment with an egg at my favorite restaurant. I hope I can get some of these ongoing website problems resolved soon. It's way too late in the year for Ground Hog Day.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day