Day 2129

Tough day. Dot had another one of her episodes where she appeared extremely stressed and started panting rapidly. When this happens, she usually wants to eat grass and if the condition gets worse, she wants to eat anything, including her dog blankets. I couldn't find the dog thermometer to take her temperature, so I had to use mine. I'll think twice before putting that in my mouth again. I felt a little better when her temperature was within the normal range. Once when this happened, her temperature was over 105 and she had to go immediately to the emergency room. I can't leave the house when this happens because the entire house is filled with rugs and things she can eat now. I can't take the rugs up either, because she can't get up on the slick brick floors and could hurt herself if she started to struggle. My only alternative is to sit with her until she calms down and returns to normal. Everything seems fine now, but I'm going to have the vet evaluate her to make sure there are no new surprises when we go for our physical therapy sessions tomorrow.

When Dot's emergency was under control, I carefully boxed and wrapped my watch winder and took it over to the UPS store so I could return it to the manufacturer. UPS didn't like my nice wrapping job. They told me that my package will spend most of its journey to California on automated conveyor belts that like to eat up brown wrapping paper. I asked how I should pack things in the future and the clerk told me to just put it in a plastic bag. It's a strange new world we live in. I've wrapped packages for years and have never been told that my sturdy brown Kraft paper packages tied with twine couldn't survive the journey.

I had a lot of website updates today and most of them were straight out of left field. It takes me a little longer to respond when I don't really know what is going on, but I think eventually everything got straightened out. I thought it was going to be an easy day and I'd spend my time watching old Dr. Who episodes or reading a book. It didn't turn out that way. Between panicking about Dot's health and trying to meet several tight website deadlines, there was no time left over at all.

Dash didn't help matters when he added his own brand of weirdness to the mix. When I took him on his afternoon walk, he just wandered around aimlessly. He usually loves long walks, but for the past several days, he just wanders around behind the house, I usually think these meandering walks are aimless until I realize, usually too late, that he's headed straight toward a big pile of horse poop. Since he got into horse poop this afternoon, he'll have loose stools tomorrow morning. Ten minutes after we got home, Dot pooped in the house. I'm sick of dealing with poop.

I'm starting to forget what normal looks like. I think the last time I had any real fun was when I got invited by NASA to view the satellite launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base. That was last January. Oh, wait. I got involved in a car accident on that trip, so that wasn't entirely fun either. I probably expect too much. Hey, there are still some fresh bananas in the kitchen for my breakfast smoothie. Maybe I'll see Mercury again if I get up early tomorrow. Maybe Dot will have a good therapy session and be able to spend a full eighteen minutes in the underwater treadmill. Anything could happen.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1765

You really can't make this stuff up. Not only do we have a third confirmed case of Ebola in Dallas, we have someone who apparently thought that planning her wedding in Cleveland was a lot more important than the safety of the entire country. The first nurse was deservedly called heroic. I don't think many people will be using that term to describe the second nurse. It is simply unbelievable that someone who had regular contact with Thomas Duncan and already was under strict quarantine would conclude that it was a good idea to hop on a plane to Cleveland so she could help her mother plan her wedding. To make matters worse, she already had a fever when she boarded the plane. So much for the idea of "self-quarantine."

Dallas is understandably worried. So far, the CDC and Presbyterian hospital have refused to reveal the names of the other 70 hospital workers who have had direct contact with Duncan. They could live next door to you for all most people know. The quarantine rules have been so lax to this point that absolutely nobody knows where these people buy their groceries, go out to eat, or relax with a beer after work. All I know is that you definitely don't want to wake up to the sound of helicopters hovering over your house.

Dot had a bit of a setback today. She stumbled a bit on her morning walk, but I wasn't really worried since her legs have been weak for quite some time. It was the afternoon that got me worried. When she tried to get up from an afternoon nap, she fell over completely and landed in a heap on the brick floor. I initially thought she might have had another seizure, but she showed none of the signs of her earlier vestibular seizures. I helped her up and after some initial unsteadiness, she walked normally to the back door and wanted to go outside. She seemed normal for the rest of the day and we even took a brief walk. We skipped training class this evening though, just to be on the safe side.

I'll be glad when I can feel on the safe side again. The world seems to grow more chaotic with each passing day. Our make-believe war with ISIS doesn't seem to be having any effect at all. Saudi Arabia is artificially depressing the price of gasoline in hopes that they can make it economically unfeasible for the United States to continue producing shale gas. So much for energy independence. In the past two weeks, the stock market has lost 100% of the gains it has made so far during 2014. We're back to square one. Oh, did I mention that the health care system is a complete mess, with or without Ebola?

I need to make a list of questions to ask the vet when we go for our physical therapy session tomorrow. Dot really had me worried today. Even though everything seems fine right now, I fret that the cancer may have returned or that there may be something else wrong that we haven't even diagnosed yet. I think we're doing all we can, but we can't make her any younger. Dot is my constant companion, so I'm hoping that the vet can reassure me tomorrow.

Nobody can reassure me about the CDC. I think it's time for Tom Frieden to go. He is still thinking globally, worrying about wrecking the fragile economies of three West African countries, instead of doing what over 90% of the American people want him to do: recommend an immediate travel ban to and from these countries. If all a travel ban did was alleviate fear, it would still be a good thing. I just don't understand why we haven't done this already.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day