Day 3070 - Dash's Birthday

Dash is a trooper. Despite some serious medical problems, we made it through another year. Dash is not as strong or as agile as he used to be, but he is still a happy dog. On a good day I think Dash will be with us for many years. On a bad day, I wonder if he'll make it through the night. Luckily, his birthday was a very good day. Dash ate well today and took two walks. He didn't stumble too much and really enjoyed the little party we had for him after dinner.

Janet and I used to bake and decorate special cakes for each of our dogs. We don't have the energy now, so I just went to Sprinkles and got him some Pupcakes. He seems to like these just as well. Hopefully, we'll be able to celebrate again next May. Tomorrow morning we have a vet appointment so he can get his annual Leptospirosis vaccination. We'll find out whether the infection on his lip has cleared up and if we can discontinue the antibiotics that upset his stomach. Next month, we will see a different vet at the cancer center for a follow up exam and an echocardiogram. It's not surprising that Dash doesn't enjoy going to the vet anymore, but he wouldn't be alive today without the excellent care he receives.

I got a surprise in the mail today. It was a rather large bill from the roofer. There aren't supposed to be any bills for repairs necessitated by defective materials. The roofers have been out many times before to repair the faulty elastomer coating and this is the first time I've received a bill. The roofer eventually agreed that I didn't have to pay the bill, but I could tell that he's getting tired of dealing with me. Hey, you and me both. I'm not really enjoying this either. Now, I'm wondering if the roofers will ever come back and finished the rest of the repairs as they promised. Today was definitely a setback.

I got a Fitbit today and when I went to set it up, the app said I already had a Fitbit account. Hmm. This was confusing, since I don't think I've ever owned a Fitbit before. Maybe I have though. These activity trackers don't last very long and I've owned quite a few. When I was setting up the device, I remembered why I started using Jawbone trackers in the first place. It's too bad that Jawbone made poorly constructed, flimsy equipment and went out of business. Their software was always the best.

Dash drags his rear legs so badly now that repairing his rubber boots has become a full time job. I hope I'm not pushing him too hard, but it's really important that he keeps moving. I wish he would let me take him for water therapy in the underwater treadmill like I did with Dot. Unfortunately, riding in the car has become too stressful for him. We limit car rides to essential vet visits now. There's just no point in stressing out a dog with a bad heart.

I called an electrician today but he told me that it would be two weeks before he could come out and fix my backyard security light. Hey, two weeks is fine. If he actually arrives in two weeks, this will be the fastest repair I've been able to arrange this year. I'm still trying to get the landscaper and the tree trimmer out here and it appears that all bets are off with the roofer.

All in all it was a good day. I had some frustrating encounters with suppliers, but Dash had a great birthday. He's sleeping it off now. Hopefully, we'll both sleep well tonight and be ready for another day tomorrow.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3069

Today was dominated by the weather. We watched as a surprise storm approached from the West as we were walking Dash this morning. Dash doesn't have a high gear anymore, so we kept inching along as the rain got closer and closer. We almost made it. The rain arrived when we were about 200 yards from the house. We all got wet, but it wasn't so bad. Now that the temperature and humidity have increased, a little cool rain felt kind of nice.

I went to the gym, even though I knew the car would get muddy. There is very little to do around the house on a rainy day. I'm sure there were things to be done, but my brain goes into hibernation when it rains. I didn't feel like thinking today. Exercise is a good substitute for thinking, so off to the gym I went. I was a little disappointed that there was a basketball game underway when I got there, but the game concluded by the time I was ready to shoot free throws, so all was well.

I stopped at the REI store on the way home to look at activity trackers. Should I get a Fitbit or a Garmin?  I'm still irritated that I can't glue my Jawbone UP3 band back together, but I've just about concluded that repairing this thing is a lost cause. Maybe I should just calibrate my Apple Watch. I learned you can do this today by syncing your watch to your phone's GPS for 20 minutes using the workout app. Who knew? It's weird that I'm so interested in activity trackers since I'm not much of an athlete. I guess I just like to track things.

I watched a documentary called Elizabeth at 90 while Janet was fixing dinner this evening. It was basically watching 50 years of the queen's private home movies. What a fascinating life the royals lead. They aren't like ordinary rich people. Unlike typical people of privilege, the royal family seemed very disciplined, polite, and in private led unassuming, seemingly normal lives. Maybe we need more people like the queen and fewer people like our own celebrity royalty.

I need to call the electrician. Every evening I wade through the thick ground cover in the back yard to turn on the security light manually and in the process get eaten alive by mosquitoes and chiggers. It's going to be a bad mosquito season this year. I am convinced that there are snakes hiding in the Asian Jasmine too. I definitely don't want to run into a snake at night.

Tomorrow is Dash's birthday. We need to do something really nice for him.  He's such a great dog. For most of his life, tasty food gifts were the preferred choice around our house, but I'm not so sure this year. You never know what Dash is going to eat on any given day. He might even turn up his nose at a doggie birthday cake. Who knows? Maybe we'll have a good day tomorrow. Today was certainly encouraging. Everything went well with Dash today.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2711

Dot has forgotten a lot, but she hasn't forgotten birthdays. We celebrated Dash's twelfth birthday this evening and Dot ate her birthday cupcake like a champ. I was surprised, since the Sprinkles doggie cupcake was larger than the things she can normally chew. Motivation is everything, I guess. Dot has always loved cake.

I wish she was equally motivated to eat her dinner. I couldn't get Dot to eat dry food at all today. So far, her somewhat eclectic menu has included three thin slices of turkey breast, a piece of cheddar cheese, and two crackers. This isn't enough.

At least Dot has been calm and peaceful today. There has been none of the anxiety we saw last night. We'll never really know what caused yesterday's problems, but I think she might have gotten a pill caught in her throat. Dot wasn't eating food when she took her evening pills, so she might not have swallowed them completely. When we took her outside and squirted some water down her throat with a syringe, the anxiety seemed to go away and we were all able to go to sleep.

The weather has been hot and humid all day. It's starting to feel like Summer. I'm dreading the warmer weather. Dot can't handle the heat and I can't handle the bugs. I've already started seeing an increase in the number of bugs hanging out on the back porch. Since I am unable to close the back door when I take Dot outside, many of these bugs get inside. Nighttime is the worst, since a lot of the flying insects are attracted to light. I keep several strategically placed flyswatters around the house now. I still think the bugs are winning though.

I wish there was some sort of breakthrough I could report. I know it's not going to happen. We will continue taking things one day at a time. There will be good days and bad days and then there will just be little good moments within the bad days. I have a feeling that Janet will be the one who decides when it is time. I'm not really good at evaluating quality of life. I've experienced little good moments within bad days for so long now that it just seems normal to me. I hope I am not fooling myself about Dot. I really think she enjoyed Dash's birthday party tonight. I could tell that she remembered all the other birthday celebrations and at least for a little while, she was happy. That's worth an extra day in my opinion.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1985

Things are looking up. The U-verse technician was already out in the alley working on the line when we took the dogs on their morning walk. By the time we returned, our Internet was working again. I'm still not sure how U-verse actually works but I'm glad it's up and running. U-verse is supposed to be a super fast fiber optic connection, but a copper wire actually comes into the house. This copper wire is necessary, because very few televisions, computers, and phones will connect directly to a fiber optic cable. I'm sure the copper slows things down though. U-verse isn't really much faster than anything else. To the technicians credit, our Internet is faster than it was last week though. I guess the technician accomplished something.

I got my car back today as well. It's nice driving a decent sized car again. I've never felt comfortable in small cars. Before I had dogs, I used to drive Citroëns. The Citroën is the Tardis of automobiles. These eccentric French cars don't look that big on the outside but the interiors seem huge. Having Dalmatians made me a believer in driving something even bigger than a Citroën, and I've had various SUV's ever since. The gas mileage is horrible, but the trips to the vet are a lot easier.

Luckily, we didn't have to go to the vet today, because the rain continued unabated. I don't know what I used to do before I had weather radar on my phone. I totally depend on the radar app now, checking it multiple times a day to find the perfect time to run errands and walk the dogs. I used to live in Seattle, and it never used to rain like this. Who would have thought that Texas would be wetter than Seattle someday. The rain has become a nuisance, but things are sure looking green. I think when July arrives, we're going to appreciate our exceptionally wet Spring.

I worked on websites again this afternoon. I don't typically work on weekends, but there's a lot of stuff I need to get finished and what else are you going to do on a rainy day anyway? If you've got a kid who can't find a job, tell them to learn how to build mobile websites. I noticed that the mobile traffic on my own website went up dramatically since I converted it to a mobile friendly design last week. This either means that Google really favors mobile now, or that I was getting no mobile traffic at all before I made the switch. Creating mobile websites is going to be a boom industry for a while. I suspect that every single website on the planet will eventually find it necessary to scrap their static sites in an effort to attract mobile traffic as well.

Janet and I are getting forgetful. Dash had a birthday a few days ago and we completely forgot about it. We tried to make amends by having a little party for the boy this evening. We used to make special cakes for the dogs and everything. I even went to a cake decorating class once, just to learn how to make the ultimate dog cake. Today the dogs got a doggie cupcake from Sprinkles, and more importantly they got to share some of the burgers we were having for dinner. It's hard to believe that Dash is ten now. I still go around telling people he is seven. How time flies.

Neither of the dogs understands that holiday weekends are for sleeping in. They got us up early this morning and I suspect that they will do the same tomorrow. It's OK though. I'm glad both dogs are still energetic and eager to start the day after all they've been through the past year. I'll be checking the weather radar again tomorrow to see if I can find them a little dry time.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1618 - Dash's Birthday

Dash got a birthday treat today. We returned to our Wednesday evening training class for the first time this year. Dash was so excited to see the other dogs again that he could hardly contain himself. Actually, he couldn't contain himself and barked incessantly throughout the class. Everyone was really glad to see Dash again until the barking started. Then they probably remembered how peaceful it had been without him. I was actually surprised at how much Dash remembered tonight. He still did some of his exercises perfectly. It was hard to get him to sit or stay, but it didn't really matter. The class was very forgiving tonight.

I spent most of the day working on a project that doesn't even have a deadline yet. It was actually kind of relaxing to have time to experiment with things without worrying about being late. Sadly, a lot of the projects I get these days have almost impossible turnaround times. Probably the only reason I get these jobs is because I'm very fast. "Hey, can you get this back to me this afternoon," they ask?  No problem.

Somebody called this afternoon to tell me that they had my blood test results. It wasn't a voice I recognized, so I was totally confused. Were they talking about me, about Dot, or about Dash? All three of us have had blood work done recently. Eventually I realized that this was a nurse from the cancer center who was talking about Dash. Evidently, the blood panel they ran Monday when I took him in for an exam came out fine. It could have been any of us though. Dot has had blood work done recently in preparation for next week's dental cleaning. I still have frequent tests as well to make sure the Hepatitis-C virus hasn't returned. I know people who haven't had their blood tested in years. I rarely go two weeks without some kind of test.

It looks like this is going to be a good year for wildflowers. There are a rainbow of different colored blooms in the meadow behind out house. I like watching each new variety appear. This week the Firewheels started blooming. I can't remember if Firewheels are the last to bloom, or if there is another wave of flowers that has yet to appear. Even though exactly the same flowers appear year after year, it is still interesting to anticipate what I'm going to be seeing next. Some of these flowers will last into June, but by July the lush meadows will be dry and brown again.

This week has gone quickly. Not quickly enough however. I wish tomorrow was Friday. Maybe I could pretend it was Friday by going out to breakfast tomorrow.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1257

If you've never worked with a contractor before, here's what to expect. First you meet the contractor. He sounds knowledgeable and fills you full of hope and anticipation about the project you are about to undertake. After you agree on a price and the work begins, you never see this guy again. Next, you meet the foreman the contractor has selected to oversee the job. This guy drops by every couple of days to give the work crew their marching orders for the day. If something goes wrong, the foreman always smiles and tells you that the problem will be fixed later. The work crew never listens to the foreman. To a man, they are convinced that they already know the best way to do everything and just continue doing what they were going to do anyway as soon as the foreman gets in his pickup and leaves for the day. Did I mention that I don't enjoy dealing with contractors.

It rained again today and just as I thought, the unfinished carport leaked like a sieve. You would think that with the forecast predicting a rainy Memorial Day weekend, the roofers would have put a giant tarp over the roof to protect it. Nope. They did nothing. When I mentioned the leaky, unfinished carport to the contractor, he just said that these things happen and that they would fix things later.

It was such a busy week that Janet and I forgot Dash's birthday. We tried to make amends tonight with a little celebration that featured special doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. Dash must have gotten high on cake, because he started racing around the house and refused to stay still for his birthday picture. I think the dogs enjoyed the party though. They always enjoy anything that involves food.

I took a nap with the dogs this afternoon because it is the only thing that seems to calm Dot down during a thunderstorm. Dash didn't used to care one way or the other about the weather, but Dot has managed to convince him that the sky is falling every time it rains. Now, his storm phobia is just as bad as Dot's. I huddled under a blanket on the bed with a warm dog on either side of me and fell asleep immediately. The short nap was the most enjoyable part of my day.

Maybe the weather will improve tomorrow. I certainly hope so. A few of my readers have suggested that I try being a little more upbeat and positive in the future. Me? Negative? What on earth would give you that idea? Hey, this is just the way things are. I'm a pragmatic realist. Most of the happy people I know are all on Prozac.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 892

Dash finally got his birthday dinner today. It was a little late, but it was a good excuse to go to Cafe Lago again. I think they have the best Cuban sandwich in town. I'm continually amazed at how well behaved our dogs can be when we take them to restaurants. They both bark like crazy on the drive over to the restaurant, but once we're sitting at our table, they look like contenders for the canine good citizen award. Other diners frequently come over to our table to pet the dogs and praise their good behavior. Nobody can believe that Dalmatians can be this good in public. Dot and Dash are both quite social. They both like an outing, especially when food is involved. Some of their good manners stem from the fact that they get fed when they're good. I also think that they just like to go out to eat. Who wouldn't? Going out to eat is always more fun than eating at home.

I've finally moved enough stuff to the new storage space that my office is actually starting to look shipshape again. All the bags of camera equipment are finally off the floor and neatly arranged on shelves where they should be. My big accomplishment today was clearing a mountain of paperwork off the top of an old ESQ-1 keyboard I have set up in the corner of the office. For the first time in several years, I can actually play the keyboard if I want. Amazing!

While I was sorting through the paperwork to determine what goes in the shredder, what goes in the trash, and what stays behind, I found an old unopened letter that looked suspiciously like a lot of the letters I'm getting from politicians lately. When I opened the letter, I was really surprised. It was an invitation to be part of a trade delegation to China.  Hmm. That would have been fun if I had opened the letter three years earlier. I still can't figure out how I got on a list to be part of a trade delegation.  The letter said I was selected because of my reputation and experience in the industry. It didn't say which industry though. The whole thing could have been some sort of scam. It definitely looked legitimate though. Jeez, I really need to start reading my mail.

It will be nice to have a three day weekend. This week has been so busy that I would be content to do absolutely nothing for the next three days. There are places to go and things to do however. Dot and Dash have a play date on Sunday. They're meeting two other Dalmatians. One of their spotted friends is a talented show-off who does agility. I think Dot and Dash can hold their own however. After all, how many Dalmatians are cosmopolitan foodies who go to restaurants for dinner?

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 888

I almost got my car towed today. I went into an office tower to pay a bill and when I came out less than five minutes later, there was a big orange sticker on my windshield that said my car was scheduled to be towed away in two minutes. I pulled the sticker off the windshield and got out of there fast. As I left, I noticed a small sign that said there was no parking allowed in lots 3 & 4. All cars must park in lots 1 & 2 it said. Lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all identical. There were other cars already parked in the same lot that I parked in too. Of course, some of these other cars also had orange stickers on their windshields when I returned to the parking lot. I still don't know what was so special about parking lots 3 & 4. There was no explanation. I did notice what appeared to be a homeless man sitting in a beat up old car with all the windows open. He was watching each car that entered the parking lot. I bet the building management had hired him to slap the orange stickers on errant cars like mine. I don't think I'll be going back to this building anytime soon. Next month, I'm just going to mail my payment in.

The rest of the day was uneventful. The dogs got their walks. The new grass in the back yard got watered. A load of laundry got done. A few more invoices got sent out. I updated two websites and wrote a watch article. That was about it. Even though it was a completely normal day, I found myself getting bored as the day wore on. Repetitive tasks wear you down, no matter how interesting they might have been in the beginning. I'd love to work on something completely new and different. If I can't even get caught up on the old tasks however, a switch to something new seems very unlikely.

The synchronizers on my Defenter 90 are starting to go out. I have to double clutch to get from first gear to second these days. At least I know how to double clutch and keep on moving, but I still find this new development disconcerting. I vaguely remember two service technicians laughing when I first bought the car, talking about how the Defender turned from reliable transportation into a money pit once the transmission and transfer case started to go. Maybe I won't even notice the difference. To me, the car turned into a money pit years ago.

The neighborhood dog friendly restaurant happened to be closed on Mondays, so we took Dash to a nearby pet store to pick out some special treats for his birthday. We brought home some yummy dog treats, but Dash seemed disappointed that we didn't get him a ferret or parakeet instead. He was trying so hard to get at the cage with all the birds in it that I'm surprised the manager didn't kick us out.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 887

What a busy day. We tried to finish landscaping the back yard this morning and almost succeeded. The yard looks good now. All the grass is in place and appears to be growing. All we need now is a little more ground cover and we'll be done. After breakfast, we took Dot and Dash back to the new 22 acre dog park in far North Dallas. This is a great park since the grass hasn't been ruined yet and the dogs have plenty of room to roam. The drive is a little longer, but it's worth it.

On the way home, we stopped by Vhea's LaundroMutt and gave the dirty pair a bath. We've got clean dogs now, a clean house, and I even mowed the grass. Since I noticed some of the other neighbors hauling brush out to the curb for big trash day, I figured that now was the time to cut down the dead tree in the front courtyard as well.

The tree wasn't large, but it took me a while because I was using a reciprocating saw instead of a chain saw. Years ago, a friend of mine almost took off his face when he slipped while using a chain saw. That accident put the fear of God in me, since I'm fairly clumsy. I haven't used a chain saw since. It's surprising how much you can cut with a big electric reciprocating saw and the right blade though. In two hours, I had the tree cut into small enough pieces that I could drag it out to the curb with all the other neighbor's landscaping debris.

Dash's birthday is tomorrow. The little guy will be seven years old. I don't know if we'll have time to take the dogs out to dinner again, but we'll do something special. Years ago, I took a cake decorating class and Janet and I used to make special birthday cakes for the dogs on their birthday. Life has become way too hectic for hand decorated dogs cakes lately. Janet and I don't even have birthday cakes for each other anymore. Usually birthday celebrations just involve some wine and a few cupcakes from Sprinkles.

I hope I can get caught up with all my work projects this week. I'm way behind right now. I'm tempted to just turn the phones off until I get caught up on everything. That wouldn't be wise though. The minute I turn the phones off, someone is bound to call me with the job I've been waiting for all year.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 522 - Dash's Birthday

Today is Dash's birthday. We think he's about six, mostly because when we adopted him on this day five years ago, we were convinced that he was just under a year old. It was just a guess though. It's kind of a tradition with animal rescue dogs that their adoption day becomes their birthday as well. You never really know the true age of a stray. It's only when they become really old that you see how good your initial guess was.

We took the dogs to Cafe Lago this evening for Dash's birthday. A lot of places in Dallas allow dogs on their outdoor patios now, but Cafe Lago is the only place I know of in town that has a special chef-prepared menu just for dogs. I've been tempted to order off the dog menu myself ocassionally, because everything looks so good. The dogs each had an order of meatloaf and eggs, while Janet and I had hot sandwiches.

I finally got those wildflower pictures I've been talking about taking finished. Today was one of those perfect cloudy bright days with no shadows that photographers love. I figured it was now or never, especially since the wildflowers will be gone in a few weeks anyway. When I got home and looked at the pictures on the computer, I realized that I had more or less wasted my time. The pictures looked exactly like all the other wildflower pictures I've taken on previous years.

I ventured up on the roof again for the first time since I was stung by the swarm of bees a few weeks ago. Thankfully, there were no bees this time. Only the usual standing water from yesterday's rain. I sure wish the roof drained properly. Whenever it rains, the water collects in the center of the roof, where it stays for weeks, until I either sweep it away or it evaporates. It's not hot enough yet for the water to evaporate, so I'm still doing a lot of sweeping.

Hopefully the weather will be nice tomorrow. It's one of those rare Sundays without a lot of chores or errands. I'm really looking forward to doing nothing at all.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day