Day 4699

It was chilly this morning. We got up a little later today, so we actually saw the sunrise on our sunrise walk with Dawn. Dawn likes the cooler weather, but I was ready to get back to the house where it was warmer. I never seem to be happy with the temperature. When it's hot, I wish it was cooler. When it's cold I wish it was warmer. I was happy with the skies though. It was a crystal clear morning with no pollen in the air.

After our weekend breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, I did my weekly grocery shopping. Prices continue to rise. A case of bottled water was a dollar more than it was two weeks ago. My favorite beer has gone up in price as well. I wonder how long this will continue? These weekly price changes aren't dramatic, but they've been going on for months. Virtually everything costs considerably more than it did a year ago. Some prices have doubled.

I had been planning on going to the gym today, but changed my mind because the weather was so nice. By noon the temperature had warmed up enough so I could wear shorts again. My feet didn't bother me as much today, but I was pretty slow. I think I'm faster when I walk early. I didn't get on the road this afternoon until well after lunch. People are stopping me on my walk again to ask where the eagles are. I don't know why they think I would know, but I get asked about Nick and Nora, our two resident eagles, almost every day now. They are definitely in the area, but I've only seen them once so far.

I was paying some online bills this afternoon and discovered that my cable bill has disappeared. U-verse isn't even on the AT&T menu anymore. It looks like they are discontinuing the service and I am grandfathered in somehow. I finally found where my bill was hidden but it wasn't even labeled as U-verse. There was only a cryptic account number and an insanely high price. I could get AT&T's best streaming service for half the price of U-verse. I'll have to go to the store and ask about this next week. Websites just don't answer my questions anymore.

I tried to make a reservation for the Thanksgiving Brunch Janet and I like, but the hotel website didn't work and they never answered their phone. There was just a voicemail message saying that they'd return my call. Of course they never did. This seems to be a trend. Customer service is abysmal these days. You can never get anyone on the phone. Real people are rapidly being replaced by mobile apps. Hotels want you to use their app to make reservations. My doctors all use apps and patient portals these days. If you do manage to get someone on the phone, it's usually a call center in India. I hate all this. I have simple questions. I'd like to just pick up the phone and get a simple answer.

I'm beginning to sound like my Dad. He was always frustrated by the advent of computers and refused to learn how to use one. He said his old manual Royal typewriter was all he needed. He never got a cell phone and seemed happy playing vinyl records of his favorite symphonies on an old turntable. Maybe this is natural. I found change exciting when I was in my 20's. Now I wish things would stay the same, or preferably reverse direction so I could go back in time a bit. There was a time when everything seemed just right. That time has passed.

Daylight Saving Time ends tonight. We probably won't need lights on our morning walks for a while. I've always preferred Standard Time. I tend to get all my chores and activities done in the morning, so extra daylight at the end of the day has never mattered much. The days are still getting shorter, so we might need the lights again, but it will be nice walking in daylight for a while.

I'll probably go mall walking tomorrow. We'll definitely take Dawn on her Sunday outing and get ice cream cones. I like the continuity of a regular routine. There is far too much randomness and chaos in today's world.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4675

NASA has finally set a new date for the next Artemis launch attempt, so it's time to make travel arrangements again. I sure wish the process was a little easier. Hotel and airfare prices can differ drastically depending on which day you choose. Sometimes leaving or returning one day earlier or later can double the price of your ticket. Hotels are the same way. As it turned out it was cheaper to stay an extra day in Florida to get a lower airfare.

Since the launch is scheduled for a few minutes after midnight I initially scheduled my departure for the wrong day and had to reschedule everything a few hours later. Jeez. You'd think I'd know how to tell time by now. The Airbnb I like wasn't available, but I was able to book a room at the hotel I usually stay at. The rental car website wasn't working properly today, but I'm pretty sure my car is booked as well. I'll probably have to skip the Falcon Heavy launch at the end of October. These trips have become way too expensive and I can only afford one trip to the space center this Fall

Our day started as usual with a pre-dawn walk with Dawn. We left earlier this morning since Janet has a doctor's appointment. I'm getting used to walking in the dark now, but this won't last long. On November 6 we go back to Standard Time and we'll be walking in daylight again. I keep hearing that congress wants to make Daylight Saving Time permanent next year. Why? I'd rather make Standard Time permanent.

I had a hard time deciding whether to walk in the park or go to the gym today. It was a little too warm for my taste, but I didn't feel like driving. Eventually I decided to take my long walk in the park. The water department was digging up one of the streets in our neighborhood, so I had to take an alternate route to reach the path I usually take. The streets are a mess now. Several years ago the city used a cheap "spray on road" technique to re-pave several streets in the neighborhood and now the tar is leaking to the surface. You have to be careful where you walk because the stuff sticks on your shoes. I made pretty good time today, but by the time I returned I wished I'd gone to the gym instead. Considering how cool it was on our sunrise walk, it got hot outside very quickly. I shouldn't complain though. At least the little green web worms are gone now.

My chore for the day was removing the water that accumulates under the shower tiles. I need to get the shower re-tiled, but it is easier to remove the water every few weeks with a wet-dry vac. I tried to re-seal the tile once, but apparently it didn't work. Several quarts of water can accumulate between the tiles and the shower pan. When it reaches a certain level it starts leaking out the same cracks that let it in. Water is not my friend. I think most of the problems around the house have something to do with water.

Dawn did well at training class this evening. Janet said she is going to graduate to the advanced class next week. I'm surprised at how much Dawn seems to enjoy these classes because she is typically scared of everything. I'm glad Dawn has found something she enjoys. Now I need to do the same.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4098

I thought I'd slept in longer than usual this morning and then I realized that the time had changed. Why do we do this every year. I don't care if we go with standard time or daylight saving time. Let's just pick one and stick with it. Dogs don't understand time changes at all. They keep wanting to be fed at their usual time.

Our phones and computers update automatically, but there are still a lot of clocks in the house to change. I was changing the time on a wall clock in the office this morning when I accidentally dropped and broke it. What a shame. This clock has been faithfully reminding me that I'm always late for many, many years.

The nasty weather that all the news media kept warning us about never materialized. I don't think it even rained last night. I'm beginning to think that the media just likes to alarm people. Maybe it's good for ratings. Everything seems to be a crisis these days, even if it doesn't feel like a crisis in real life. At any rate, I was glad that there were no tornados nearby when I woke up this morning. Tornado warnings still get my attention.

When Janet and I were out walking today I got a message on my watch saying that we'd had a power outage at the house. Hmm. Who sent me this message and why? I finally figured out that the message was generated by the new little gizmo that monitors our electric lines. We tried looking at the petcam in the bedroom to see if the power was really out. The petcam still worked and everything seemed fine. When we returned home, the power was on and there were no signs that there had been an outage. Did the power  really fail or did the little line monitor fail? I guess I'll never really know.

My assorted aches and pains seem to be getting worse. A few days ago I tripped on a rock while I was walking and stumbled around trying to regain my balance. I never actually fell, but now my hip hurts when I walk. I'm getting clumsy as I grow older. I never would have tripped on that rock when I was younger and I wouldn't have dropped the office clock either. It might be time to end my trips up on the roof. Tripping on a rock is one thing. Falling off the roof would be a lot more serious.

I find myself spending a lot of time on Facebook astrophotography groups lately. Who would have thought that there were so many people interested in this strange and difficult to master hobby. Some of these people's photographs are amazingly good. They look like they were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. I don't think I will ever get this good. I just don't have the patience. I like astronomy but I also like to go to bed early. This doesn't bode well for any future endeavors. I have a feeling that a couple of trips out to McDonald Observatory every year will be enough for me. The rest of the time I'll just watch old Perry Mason episodes on TV at night.

Dawn froze in place briefly on her short walk today. We got her going again, but this was troubling. She's been doing so well lately. I'd really hate to see her become fearful of walking. She likes to sit out in the sun in the yard, so you'd think that she would like walking as well. She always seems eager to walk when we get out her leash and harness. Occasionally, something makes her fearful though and we still don't know what it is.

I'm torn between wanting something interesting to happen next week and wanting things to remain calm and uneventful. I'll probably get uneventful and that's OK with me.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3911

The days are getting noticeably shorter now. We start our morning walks at the same time, but it's much darker now when we leave the house. The sky doesn't noticeably lighten until we're almost at our halfway point. This morning we completed our walk and had returned home before the sun rose above the horizon. Daylight Saving Time doesn't end until November, so we've got more dark walks ahead of us. I think Janet and I will both be glad when the temperature cools enough so that we can walk at any time of day.

I wrote another letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. These are the only physical letters I write to anybody. Everyone else switched to e-mail a long time ago. Sadly, even e-mail is becoming too much of a bother for a lot of people. Texting is gradually replacing e-mail as the preferred way to communicate. I find all this kind of sad. Communication has become so rudimentary now. I still like a nice long letter and will never resort to using Emojis.

This afternoon we took Dawn to another park to get her used to riding in the car. Janet often does this by herself, but sometimes I go along to see whether having both of us in the car makes things better or worse. Helping Dawn overcome her many fears is a long slow process. She seems eager to go on a car ride now until the car starts moving. It's weird. She's always excited when we get ready to go and eagerly hops right in the back seat. As soon as we start backing out of the driveway, she starts shivering, shaking, and panting excessively. Usually she quickly reverts to acting normally again as soon as we arrive at our destination.

I actually found Clorox wipes today. These weren't genuine Clorox wipes. They were just a poorly packaged imitation that was probably quickly rushed to market by someone who wanted to take advantage of the pandemic shortages. I bought the imitation wipes anyway. These things can be useful in a world where you are constantly wiping down surfaces and cleaning your hands away from home. I still think the pandemic will be officially be over when the real Clorox wipes return to the shelves. That hasn't happened yet.

Janet asked me if I had Zoom on my computer. I guess she wants to learn how to use it. You're on your own there buddy. I have no interest in learning about Zoom or installing it on any of my devices. There is a certain freedom in being a Luddite. To me, Zoom just seems like an irritating way to bring the stress of pre-Covid days into your own home. Zoom is incredibly popular and the company is one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street now, but I have no desire whatsoever to talk to twelve people at once.

There was nothing happening on the Boca Chica cam today, but tomorrow something might explode. Since tomorrow will probably be as boring as today, I'm sure I'll tune in to watch the pressure test. I kind of wish there were live streaming cams everywhere. It would be nice to be able to check and see if there were crowds or lines before I went anywhere. I've become obsessive about avoiding crowds these days. They weren't quite finished filling my prescription when I went to the pharmacy this afternoon, and I had to wait at the store for fifteen minutes. Jeez. I couldn't wait to get out of that place.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2519

Dogs don't really understand Daylight Saving Time. The time changed last night, but Dot and Dash were still following their old schedule. It was so overcast this morning that we didn't notice that it was getting light any earlier. Since neither of the dogs like to get up until they see daylight, we were all able to get a little extra sleep. Last night was unusually peaceful. Dash was calm and slept soundly throughout the night, and Dot didn't poop in her sleep. It was nice to have some peace and quiet for a change.

I was actually able to get to the gym before noon today. I think the time change helped with that. I was surprised that there were only three basketballs left. What happened to the other five? My favorite basketball that I had used since I joined the gym was gone. I obsess over inconsequential things like this. If anything at all changes, it throws me off my stride. I spent the rest of my workout wondering where the basketballs were and why everything always has to change.

Maybe I was a dog in a former life. The dogs aren't fond of changes either. They certainly aren't fond of time changes. This afternoon, they were ready for their dinner before I even finished vacuuming. I made them wait as long as I could, but they eventually got their way. We ate a little early today.
I'm glad the roofers came when they did. It rained again today and according to the long range forecast, it is going to continue raining for most of next week.

Cleaning the house on a rainy day is a thankless task. Dash started tracking in a new batch of leaves and dirt before I even finished cleaning the rugs. I changed the sheets, washed all the towels, and vacuumed the house, but nothing stays clean for very long. Dot had the usual array of accidents, but at least she was well positioned under a disposable pad when she pooped today. Cleanup was easy this time, which somehow made the grey, rainy day a little more bearable.

I wonder why the FBI director even bothered to re-open the case against Hillary if he was just going  to close it again? It hardly seems worth the trouble. He must have had a good idea what was in the e-mails before he wrote that initial letter to congress. Why would he do something so controversial if he didn't have any evidence? I bet there will be plenty of new conspiracy theories tomorrow morning. Maybe this is all legit, but something sure seems fishy to me. I still think the fix was in a long time ago.

The furnace came on this morning. Lots of trees are starting to turn in the park. Now that the time has changed, it's going to seem a lot more like Winter. I hope we have a mild Winter. I've got plenty of warm Winter coats, but I don't want to deal with snow and ice. It's hard enough keeping Dot moving on a nice day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2517

I got an early start to a slow day. For some reason, we had the dogs fed and walked before 6:30 AM. Pancakes won the coin toss this morning, so I went to a restaurant that had good pancakes. I'd show you a picture, except my Instagram settings are all screwed up and pictures aren't being saved to the phone's camera roll anymore. I'm sure it's something I did. My phone's battery is wearing out and I keep turning off features to extend the battery life. Sometimes I turn off so many features that the apps don't work anymore. At any rate, the pancakes were good, and the service was quick, since I was so early. I finished my breakfast, went to the grocery store, and was still back home well before 9 AM.

I called around to see if any lighting stores had the candelabra base LED bulbs I've been looking for. One store said they had exactly what I needed and I drove over to pick the bulbs up. When I got there, a salesperson said she'd never heard of these bulbs. It was a wasted trip. One more reason that I should have ordered the bulbs on Amazon.com in the first place. I really do try to support local businesses, but it's becoming hopeless. Local stores just can't compete with what's available online.

I no longer have satellite radio in my car. I let the SiriusXM free trial expire and they promptly cut me off. It's no great loss. I think the service is grossly overpriced. If they charged like Hulu or Netflix, I probably would have subscribed. The only thing I listened to on satellite radio was NPR anyway, and I think I can still find that on my FM dial.

The dogs were unusually active today. It's a good thing that I wasn't really busy with work, or I never would have gotten finished. Every time I sat down at the computer, tried to take a shower, or do anything where Dot couldn't see me, she started her plaintive "I need you" bark. Since she can't get up on her own, I really can't ignore her. We were busy today, walking up and down the halls and occasionally going outside. Most of these meandering journeys ultimately led to her food bowl in the kitchen. I think she just wanted to be fed.

Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend. I still can't remember why we have Daylight Saving Time in the first place. To me, it's just a nuisance. I like having daylight in the morning and at night. Maybe if we just set the clocks back half an hour this weekend, we could split the difference and just leave it that way all the time. If the idea behind the annual time change was to save energy, it clearly isn't working. I think we actually consume more energy as a result of Daylight Saving Time.

I wonder if I'll have any friends after this election is over? I think people will eventually realize that talking about politics on Facebook was a bad idea. I've learned sme things that I didn't really want to know. Hey, vote for whoever you want, but at least let me pretend that you agree with me.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2446

I ran a bunch of small errands today. Nothing I did was absolutely necessary, but it gave me something to do. I got some astringent at the pharmacy, because after all these years, I still have oily skin. I stopped by the storage warehouse to see when my yearly rent was actually due. I got gas for the car, even though it only needed a few gallons. I picked up some more CoQ10 because my doctor thinks I need to take it. I stopped by the vegan take out place to see if the menu had changed yet. It hadn't. Basically, I was just kind of bored.

The weather has gotten really hot again. The cool, rainy days we had a few weeks ago seem like a fluke now. I wonder if I just imagined them. It's weird how the days seem to suddenly get shorter around this time of year. We're taking our early morning walk in the dark again now. Last year at this time, the walks were kind of interesting because there were lots of planets in the pre-dawn sky. Now, there appears to be nothing. I'll have to check a star atlas to see if there's anything to keep my eye on. I wonder why Daylight Saving Time doesn't end until November 6? This seems later than usual. Morning sunlight will return for a while after the time changes, but then it will be dark on our evening walks. You can't win.

Dash had a burst of energy this morning, so his walk was twice as long as it normally is. I watched him, looking for any signs of stumbling and didn't see any. Everything seemed fine. This was so different from yesterday that it seemed puzzling. Something is wrong with Dash, but I just can't figure out what it is. I did make an appointment for his neurological exam, so maybe I'll find some answers then. For the moment, it was nice to take a long walk again. It gave me a chance to see if anything had changed in the neighborhood. There were a few houses up for sale and a few more under construction. Dash was relaxed today because we didn't encounter many other dogs. We basically had the park to ourselves.

I keep getting e-mail messages from one of my doctors, urging me to sign up for their Patient Portal. I dutifully followed their instructions today and created an account. These electronic records systems are touted as being great for patients, but I'd really rather just have a piece of paper that I could put in a ring binder. A ring binder lets you keep all the information in one place and you don't need to remember any passwords. When I went to my new Patient Portal page, I was surprised to see that there was absolutely nothing in my file. What is the point of a record keeping system with no records?  I have three or four of these Patient Portal accounts with different doctors. I can't remember the password to most of them. Technology marches on, I guess.

I can't decide where to eat breakfast tomorrow. Sometimes when I'm in an indecisive mood, I check the Yelp reviews for restaurants in the neighborhood. I've noticed a general trend. It doesn't matter which restaurant you pick. The majority of the reviews tend to say things like "This place used to be a favorite of mine, but it has really declined lately." That's the way I feel and I'm surprised that so many other people tend to feel the same way. Has quality universally declined, or has everybody just gotten picky and judgemental? I don't know. I think the quality of life in general has gone downhill. Restaurants are just a small part of the problem.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2147

Dogs don't understand Daylight Saving Time. Frankly, I don't either. The whole concept of "gaining an hour" or "losing and hour" is bizarre. We all follow the same circadian rhythm and arbitrarily turning back the clock so it will be light when you drive to work in the morning doesn't really prove anything. I'm sure that's what Dot and Dash were thinking when they got us up at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. According to their clock, we were already an hour late for breakfast. We wanted to sleep in a little longer, but it doesn't pay to ignore Dot these days. When we didn't respond immediately to the dogs desire to get the day started, Dot got up on her own and promptly pooped in the hallway.

I had plans to go to the gym in the morning, but got sidetracked by setting all the clocks in the house back an hour. You don't realize until the time changes that almost every device in your home has a clock in it. There's a clock in the thermostat. There's a clock in the coffee maker. There's a clock in the television. There's even a clock in the old land line phone. In addition to these clocks are wall clocks in the bathroom, office, and kitchen, plus two clock radios. You are either forced to change all of these clocks, or ignore them all. Just changing one or two clocks creates confusion.You never know which one is right. I even set one clock back to Daylight Saving Time by mistake this morning. It is ironic that in a house filled with watches and clocks, I am perpetually late everywhere I go.

Since we have a lot of single pane glass in our house, cold weather can cause water to condense on the inside of our windows. This condensation can make the entire house feel damp. There is nothing new about this damp weather condensation, but today it made me feel like it was caused by our invisible water leak instead of the weather. I still see no evidence whatsoever of a leak, but the water keeps running in the pipes. I hope the plumbing company sends out a really good plumber. I hate these kind of mysteries.

I went to the gym this afternoon even though I knew it was raining and I would feel compelled to clean the car when I got home. I had cabin fever and needed to get out of the house. I did clean the car when I got home, but it was no big deal. Sunday is just a giant cleaning day anyway. After I cleaned the car, I vacuumed all the rugs and carpets with the Dyson. I continue to be amazed by the enormous amount of dirt and dog hair that I sweep up every week. I used to wonder why Dyson made the dirt canister out of clear plastic so you could see all the gross gunk you had removed from your carpets. Now, I think that they want you to see all this dirt so you will be impressed by how strong their vacuum cleaner is. Probably all vacuum cleaners suck up the same amount of dirt, but most just hide it away in a bag that your forget about until it is full.

So far, November is looking busy. I have an appointment to take Dot back to the cancer center for one of her periodic exams. She'll get another Ultrasound scan tomorrow to measure whether the tumor in her liver has grown. Dash is fine for the moment. He is eating normally and all four legs are working fine. I haven't seem him limp for almost a week. I think there is already enough work on the books to keep me busy for most of the week. I have three new articles to write, along with a website that needs to be updated and converted to a mobile friendly format. All these projects will be finished in good time, while I spend my time fretting about where to find fresh peaches. My morning smoothies were much better with peaches in them.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2107

I wonder who reads this? According to Google, I have between 200 and 400 visitors every day. I can only account for about 17 of these people however. Actually, 17 readers is pretty generous. Maybe there are only 5. Back when blogging was new and somewhat popular, I though I might become an online Dave Barry, regaling readers with the humorous absurdities of everyday life. It is now pretty obvious that I am writing for myself. I write for the same reasons that a fitness advocate becomes compelled to do 50 push-ups on waking, or ride twenty miles on a bicycle before breakfast. It's an obsession.

I've convinced myself that writing is a more effective way to postpone dementia than solving Sudoku puzzles. It certainly helps take my mind off a perpetual cycle of cleaning up dog poop and fixing broken things around the house. That being said, it will probably take more than a blog post to compensate for today. Dot had three separate accidents in the house today. As soon as I got one set of soiled rugs and blankets cleaned, it was time to throw a new set in the washer. Sometimes I can predict when Dot needs to go outside. Other times I am completely surprised. Today was a bad day, but tomorrow might be completely normal. The incontinence certainly isn't Dot's fault. As much as I hate cleaning up dog poop, I've just got to learn to go with the flow. This is all part of the aging process and the same thing might happen to me someday.

I watched the Pope arrive in Washington DC this afternoon and was amused to see him drive off in a tiny little Fiat 500 after greeting the president and dignitaries. It looked like a clown car. Everything has become a symbol in today's world. I'm sure the small, humble car wasn't an accident. Democrats see the Pope as their friend because he cares about the plight of immigrants and worries about global warming. Republicans see the pope as their friend because he is does not support abortion or gay marriage. Everyone seems to forget that the Pope is not a politician at all. He's a religious leader. If the Pope agrees with you it is only because the Catholic Church agrees with you.

Dot's vet is changing her schedule around and we will no longer be able to have our physical therapy sessions on Thursday afternoons. This week, our physical therapy session will be tomorrow. We've never gone on Wednesday before, so hopefully it's not a bad traffic day. After a transition period, we will start doing our therapy sessions in the morning. I'm not sure I like this, but like I said earlier, you have to learn to go with the flow.

Sometimes things turn up in my photographs that I'm not even aware of when I take the picture. Tonight's picture of the setting sun revealed a jet contrail that was tangent to the base of the sun. If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you can clearly see the jet and its exhaust plume. It kind of looks like a thread of fire being pulled out of the sun.

I wish we didn't have to wait until November for Daylight Saving Time to end. The days are getting shorter and it is really dark when we start our morning walk. I can still see the constellation Orion in the morning sky, along with the planets Venus and Jupiter. I'm always amazed at how quickly the sky brightens at sunrise. The stars are out when we start our walk and the sun is up before we finish. It's really a beautiful time of day. Dot pooped so much today that maybe there's nothing left. Let's hope so. I'd like a good night's sleep.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1908

Today was kind of a preview of what's to come. Dot was restless and wanted to move around, but wasn't strong enough to move by herself. I held her up with the harness while we went inside and outside and walked back and forth from room to room. Periodically, she would get tired and rest in her dog bed for a while, but just as soon as I got started on something myself, she wanted to get up again. Dot likes to sleep in the kitchen and near a big window in the bedroom, but she's decided that she doesn't like the office anymore. She seems to be looking for brightly lit areas and the office is admittedly the darkest room in the house. This is unfortunate, because the office is still where I need to spend the most time.

Needless to say, I didn't get a lot done today. When Janet was home earlier in the day I was finally able to get the water off the roof but it was probably a wasted effort. There is more rain in the forecast for tomorrow. When I'm up on the roof, I feel like Sisyphus, eternally pushing a huge boulder up a hill. It is necessary to remove the water because it is heavy and over time will warp the roof beams and cause the roof to settle even more if I just ignore it. Standing water will also cause another leak if I just ignore it. Nothing is waterproof forever. Water is very patient. If you leave it alone, it will eventually find a way inside. All this being said, it is still very frustrating to spend hours removing all the water from the roof and then have it rain the very next day.

My teeth, which had seemed just fine for months, suddenly became sensitive to cold again yesterday. This worries me, because I've decided to put off all the dental work I need until I get Dot's surgery bills paid off. I had been planning to get the wisdom teeth removed in early February, but it wasn't meant to be. Dot's spinal injury intervened. I can only deal with one crisis at a time. The last thing I need right now is a dry socket from a tooth extraction while Dot is having serious problems of her own. Luckily, Dot seems to be getting better. Maybe by Summer, Dot will be walking normally again and I can move on to overcoming my fears of going to the dentist.

Tomorrow, we will be able to cut Dot's prednisolone dose in half. Prednisolone causes dogs to increase their water intake. Dot drinks water constantly now and can't make it through the night without going outside to pee around 3 AM. On a lower dose, I think we'll all sleep better. I'm sleeping so lightly now, that my fitness tracker app asks me whether my nighttime activity is really sleep. I miss the days of having two lazy dogs on the bed who didn't want to get up at all.

Of course, daylight saving time goes into effect tomorrow and this will mess up my sleep schedule even more. I don't know why we need more daylight in the evening anyway. I want more daylight in the morning, so it's easier to wake up. The days were just starting to get long enough for the sun to come through the bedroom window a little before 7 AM. Now, after the time change, it will be dark again when we need to get up.

Dot is sleeping peacefully now. I wish she was sleeping peacefully this afternoon when I had a long list of chores to do around the house. Now, I'm too tired to finish these chores. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow. I have a feeling that I'm going to be saying "there's always tomorrow," quite frequently in the days and weeks ahead.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1782

Well, it's that time of year again. We set the clocks back tonight and for the rest of the Winter, I'll be taking the dogs on their evening walk in the dark. I wish we had Daylight Saving Time all year long. If it's dark when I wake up, I just sleep in a little longer. It's harder to compensate at the end of the day. I always take the dogs on their final walk of the day, after I feed them dinner. I've learned from experience that they're more likely to poop that way. I can't feed them their dinner too early, so immediately after the time change, I'm faced with the prospect of walking the dogs in the dark.

Fall is my favorite season, but it doesn't last nearly long enough. It was 39 degrees outside when we woke up this morning. This is cold to me. I have already turned on the furnace for the Winter, and with shorter, cooler days on the way, it's time to get out the Winter coats as well. I don't think I'd make a good Northerner. If 39 degrees makes me nervous, you can just imagine how 39 degrees below would make me feel. I've actually experienced Winters this cold, since I went to high school in Alaska, but that was enough. I'm a fan of warm weather and lots of sunlight now.

I ended up going to the gym today instead of Sunday, since Janet and I have several charity events to attend tomorrow. I wonder how this gym makes any money, since it is never very full. Although I enjoy having the place to myself, it has to be bad for business. This is a very large facility and there were only five other people working out this afternoon. I seldom tell people how great this gym is, because the last thing I want is new members. I would hate to see it go out of business though. Where would I go? In my world, a crowded gym is even worse than cold Winters.

Today was busy, since I tried to cram two days worth of errands into a single afternoon. Everything got done though. The car has a full tank of gas. The refrigerator is full again. There are clean sheets on the bed. And the dogs got two very nice walks. I even found time to unclog the large format printer and test the new wireless microphones. I was surprised at how well the digital mics worked. There was no discernible hiss or hum that I could detect. Hopefully, these new additions will improve the quality of the few remaining videos I still produce.

We had no trick or treaters last night. None at all. This was fine by me, but some of the neighbors seemed disappointed that the children have disappeared. Times have changed. Now parents drive their kids across town to designated affluent areas with lots of candy. You either love or hate living on one of these streets. I'm glad our street isn't very popular.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1546

Today was frustrating. My clients were unhappy. I was unhappy. My phone and cable bills have gone up again. And the dogs don't seem to like Daylight Saving Time. I'm beginning to envy the friends of mine who have already retired. Nobody seems happy with work anymore. The young seem unhappy because they have huge student loans and old people like me are still hanging on to most of the jobs they really want. Older people are unhappy because bean counters and efficiency experts have managed to destroy most of the quirky little things that used to make work fun. I'm not a big fan of relentless efficiency. Wages haven't gone up in ages, but the cost of everything else has. I never used to see this much stress in the workplace when I was younger. Most of my first twenty years as a working person were remarkably stress free. It's a different world now, and I'm not sure how much longer I want to continue playing the game.

The warmer weather is bringing more and more people to the park who insist on walking their dogs without a leash. I hate this. Time after time, loose dogs rush up to us. I don't know whether they are going to attack Dash, knock Dot over, or just do a little friendly smelling. With one dog that is frail and old and another that is recovering from serious surgery, I can't afford to deal with this shit. Dash was attacked and almost killed by a loose dog once. I don't want that to ever happen again. There are city signs about every one hundred feet saying that it is against the law to let your dog off leash in a public park. Why do so many people have the arrogance to simply ignore all these signs?  Hey, show a little courtesy guys. You don't have to be an asshole all the time.

I finally received the last of the Schedule-K forms I've been waiting for, so I don't have any more excuses to postpone doing my taxes. I guess I'll get started tomorrow. I would have gotten started today, except that I had to get my March invoices in the mail. On the way back from the post office, I stopped by the AT&T store and changed my mobile plan. I really don't need huge amounts of data anymore. Maybe I did need these expensive data plans back when I was uploading live video from trade shows, but I don't do that anymore. About the only thing that gets sent back and forth these days are Microsoft Word files and they are very small. I don't even use Instagram as much as I used to. What is the point of having an unlimited data plan? I did manage to get a cheaper plan, but my phone and cable bills are still way too high.

My liver doctor called this morning to schedule another blood test. I asked why they needed so many blood tests and they told me that if my hemoglobin levels dropped too low during my Hepatitis C treatment, I might have a heart attack. Hmm. I didn't really need to know that. Here I was thinking that there wasn't any risk to the treatment at all. I do need to know what is happening with Dash. I'm kind of surprised that I still haven't heard about his pathology report yet. One more thing to add to my "to do" list for tomorrow.

I have to write three virtually identical articles tomorrow. My instructions are to make each of them seem different. We'll see how that goes. Several of my clients are unhappy with Yelp. I'm happy to write them a good review, but I doubt if it will accomplish much. Yelp doesn't seem to like the reviews I write. I don't think any of them have even been published. I don't have a clue how Yelp really works, but I do think it is a bit unfair. I hope I get that Amtrak grant. A long train trip would hit the spot right now.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1545

Did you know that Amtrak has a writers residency program? They'll send selected writers on a free long distance train trip, and all the writer has to do in return is write about the experience. Hey, I'm in. I love train travel and writing about a train trip would be a piece of cake. Probably 10,000 other writers thought the same thing when they heard about this, but I filled out the application anyway. I think Amtrak is only going to pick 24 writers for the travel grants, but what do I have to lose? Like most government websites, the Amtrak site was a bit buggy. When I hit submit, my application just disappeared. I have no idea if it actually went through, since there was no acknowledgement of any kind. We'll see.

I'm back to doing my full workout at the gym. This doesn't mean my shoulder has healed completely. It's tolerable though. I figured that if I didn't get back on schedule soon, I'd lose everything I'd gained. I can already tell that I've got some work to do. My hour and a half at the gym seems a lot harder now than it did when I was going three days a week. Better something than nothing has always been my motto. As time permits, I'll try to work my way back to three visits a week.

The weather was beautiful today. I kept thinking "this time Spring is here for sure" for most of the day. I've been fooled before, however. Once or twice, we've had snow this late in the year. Hopefully, we won't get another freeze now. Trees are budding everywhere and I'm starting to see wildflowers in the park. It's definitely time to rake the leaves in the backyard, or better yet, get someone else to do it for me. I think I'll opt for the second option this year.

I thought for sure that  I would have heard the results from Dash's pathology report by now. I'll find out what is going on next week. It wouldn't be the first time a doctor had simply forgotten to tell me something important. I'll have to admit that I've been a bit reluctant to bug the vet about the results. Dash seems so much better after the surgery that I'd like to think he's out of the woods now. It would be a huge disappointment to discover that the surgeon hadn't gotten all the cancer and Dash still needs radiation or chemotherapy.

I can't say that I'm a real fan of Daylight Saving Time. Why do we need this time change at all? The time is just what is is. Pretending that it's an hour earlier doesn't really change anything. Before the time change, the sun was coming up when I woke up in the morning and I still had a chance to photograph some cool looking sunsets on my evening walks with Dot and Dash. Now, it's dark again in the morning and way too light in the evening.

In case you think nothing pleases me, I was pleased with dinner tonight. Janet cooked steaks and they were delicious. Dot and Dash seemed a bit miffed that they didn't get a big steak too, but we've learned the hard way that people food isn't good for them. I think they'll survive.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1544

I've been thinking that my Mom died sometime in March, but I couldn't remember when. I've got no long-term memory whatsoever. My mind is a sieve. I can't remember exactly when my Dad died either, and he died a lot more recently than my Mom. This is why I write things down. You may think writing 1544 consecutive blog posts is quite a feat, but I've been recording my daily thoughts a lot longer than this. I really started doing a daily blog post before the Internet was even invented. When something is nagging me, I go to a box of dusty old leather covered journals and find out what happened. Those dusty daily journals, which go back as far as the early 1980's are my memory. When I looked through the cardboard box full of journals recently, I discovered that my Mom had died 24 years ago today, on March 8, 1990.

My Mom meant a lot to me. She ended up having more of an influence on my life than she would have ever imagined. If I hadn't taken the time to write something down shortly after she died, it would all be lost in a fog by now. Maybe it's a good thing that I can't remember things. I don't wallow in the past. What does it matter if you can't even remember it?  I certainly couldn't have had a successful career in advertising if I actually remembered all the crap I've done over the years. I do have a loose sense of history, but basically, every day is a new day. If it wasn't for Facebook, I would never remember your birthday.

My mind is sharp, but it is kind of like one of those flight recorders they have on airplanes. You know what I mean. The black box continuously records the most recent thirty minutes of activity and then just records over it, erasing what was there earlier. From my perspective, doing Sudoku puzzles to keep your mind sharp is silly. I literally reinvent the wheel every single day. I think one of the reasons I've become so good at doing ads and websites is that even though I essentially solve exactly the same problem over and over again, I don't remember many of my earlier efforts. When I look at my portfolio of ads from my ad agency days, it often seems like someone else wrote them. I'll think, "Jeez, I wish I could have written something like that," and then realize that I actually did.

My first Dalmatian meant the world to me, so I wrote a book about him before he died. Ironically, today is also Spot's birthday. He would have been 27 years old today. I think that I started this blog basically to preserve the memories of Dot and Dash. They mean just as much to me, but in a different way. These 1544 days are important whether I remember them or not, so I hope that Google doesn't decide to nuke Blogger at some point in the future. I can always sort through old journals and tell you what I had for dinner in 1977, but it would be very hard to recreate the blog if it just disappeared.

I write for myself. When I re-read old stories and journal entries, some make me laugh and others make me cry. I've had quite a life. I"m not sure how important today will seem in the future, but it is part of a long tapestry. It turned cold again today. It wasn't bad when Janet and I took the dogs on their morning walk, but it got colder throughout the day. Now it feels like Winter again. I did see my first Yellow Primrose of the season this morning. This is always a sign that Spring is on the way. Within a month, the park behind our house will be a symphony of wildflowers. The time changes tonight as well. Daylight saving time is usually another sign that Spring is on the way. I used to spend hours resetting all the watches in my collection when the time changed. Now, I don't even care. Most of the watches don't work anymore anyway.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1419

You never realize how many clocks there are in your house until the time changes. Everything seems to have a clock hidden away inside it these days. There's a clock inside the television. There's a clock in the answering machine. There's a clock in the stove. It's not surprising that there's a clock inside the clock radio, but it is surprising that almost all my cameras contain clocks. If that's not enough, there are plenty of clocks on the walls and in the halls.

The dogs seems to have a built-in clock as well. They did not want to fall back with the rest of us this morning. So much for getting that extra hour of sleep. Dot and Dash insisted on getting us out of bed the same time they got up yesterday. Clocks mean nothing to these guys. In their defense, it was a nice day for a walk. The weather was perfect.

The time may have changed today, but nothing else did. Our Sunday routine went like clockwork. Janet fixed a delicious breakfast, we took Dot and Dash to the dog park, and then I went to the gym. I'm pleased that a trip to the gym has become part of my Sunday routine. I'm not usually that busy on Sundays anyway, and this certainly seems like a better use of my time than watching old science fiction movies on Hulu. Basketball and hitting the heavy punching bag are still my favorite activities. I don't really like free weights that much, and the resistance machines are quite effective, but boring. Now that I'm starting to see some real results from my efforts, it all makes sense though. Exercise will become a permanent part of my personal health triangle, along with weight loss and a better diet.

I thought I might see a nice sunset on our evening walk, now that the time has changed. I even charged up the batteries in the lightweight digital camera that I used to frequently take with me on dog walks. Unfortunately, it was cloudy this evening. It was a lot colder too. I think a front is moving through. There is rain in the forecast now, but that's OK. I have a dry roof these days and I don't think I need to drive or take the dogs anywhere tomorrow. Hey, let it rain.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1196

There is a different rhythm to Mondays now. I need to remember to water the new grass and shrubs. Dot has a standing acupuncture appointment at the vet on Monday afternoons now. There are no eggs to cook anymore. I eat oatmeal mixed with fresh fruit these days. The sun hasn't quite caught up with Daylight Savings Time yet, so it's dark again in the morning when I wake up. The dogs don't like to get up in the dark, so we sleep in a bit later. Even the pills I take in the mornings are different now. Slowly, all these new activities are becoming habits. I am definitely a creature of habit, so it is only a matter of time before these new routines become the old routines again and I start thinking I've been doing them forever.

I found some additional tax documents when I was cleaning the office yesterday, so I drove them over to my accountant and told him to add them to my tax file. As I was driving, I noticed that the Defender still ran rough between 1000 and 2000 RPM. After two expensive repairs where I specifically mentioned that the engine was running rough, you would think that Land Rover would have the solved the problem by now. If someone would have spent ten minutes giving the car a test drive, they'd know exactly what the problem was. Nobody does that anymore though. They just hook the car up to a computer, and if they get a good readout, they're done. If I have to take the car back to the shop again, I think the repairs should be free this time. I've paid enough already.

I called another roofer today. Since I'm not having much luck getting a final bid from the first two roofers, I thought it wouldn't hurt to add a third to the mix. This guy was the one who specialized in sprayed on foam roofs that I told you about earlier. Since his company is located in Wichita Falls, lord knows when he'll actually show up to give me an estimate.

Dot did pretty well with her acupuncture treatment this afternoon. She's still nervous about going to the vet, but once she's looking like a pincushion, with a row of small needles on either side of her spine, she is actually quite relaxed. I'll probably never know if it is the acupuncture treatments, or just Dot's stubborn tenacity that is responsible for her walking again. She does seems better though. That's all that counts.

I'll be glad when Spring decides to return. I know we don't have snow like some parts of the country, but it's still unseasonably cold this week. I had to bundle up again this morning when I took the dogs on their walk. It's hard to believe that temperatures were over seventy degrees less than a week ago.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 821

I started working on my taxes today. Every year these things seem to become more complicated, even though my life has actually become simpler. Once you start depreciating things and carrying losses forward, you are forced to do these things every year thereafter. Right now, my financial life is such a complicated mix of things I've done in previous years that I don't think I'll ever have a simple return again. Maybe someday, our politicians will pass a flat tax and put an end to this needless complexity. You should really be able to do your taxes on a single sheet of paper. Just write down what you earned, subtract fifteen percent for the government, and write a check. Right now there are literally hundreds of ways for people to try to game the system, and yet nobody is happy. A flat tax would be better.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting to daylight savings time. I feel like I'm getting up earlier because it's still dark outside. In reality, I'm getting up a bit later though and the whole day gets off to a slow start. I don't really care about having more daylight in the evening. All I do in the evenings is write the blog anyway. Somehow, I'm walking the dogs at 8:30 in the morning now, instead of 7:30 like I used to. The sun is way too high in the sky for me to capture any neat sunset shots on our evening walks either. I haven't even finished resetting all the watches. I'm just not cut out for daylight savings time.

I've got to decide what to do about the rental property. One day I'll wake up wanting to sell the place, and the next day I'll decide it would be better to lease it again. It's hard to decide. The real estate market certainly hasn't rebounded yet. On the other hand, I don't really like being a landlord. I've got to decide something soon though, because I can't afford to have the place sitting empty forever.

I noticed that Jupiter and Venus were real close together in the Western sky when I took the trash out tonight. I wonder if they'll get closer, or if I already missed the closest approach? I used to be real interested in astronomy, but like so many things, the fascination slowly faded away.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day