Day 2879 - Veteran's Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2716 - Dot's last day

More than anything else, this blog has been a chronicle of my love for two very special Dalmatians. One of those dogs left this earth at 7 PM this evening. Dot will be missed more than you can possibly imagine. Dot was a rescue. We don't know where she spent her first two years, but for almost fifteen years she has been my constant companion. Over time, I've grown to understand Dot better than I understand the people in my life. Her boundless enthusiasm has kept me going during my darkest hours. She has been the glue that kept our family together through thick and thin. Dot provided solace for Petey during his final years, and when Dash joined our family, she helped transform him from a frightened rescue pup to an assured and confident adult. Dot has always been the alpha dog. She not only groomed and set the ground rules for Petey and Dash, she immeasurably improved the lives of Janet and myself. I honestly don't know where I would be today without her.

I've never seen a dog with more tenacity or desire to overcome adversity than Dot. She survived abdominal cancer and a ruptured disc in her spine that required a neurosurgeon to repair. As she grew older, she outlived the expectations of every vet who ever treated her. Even when she began to show signs of dementia, she refused to give up. Dot loved her daily walks and the time she spent with her family until the very end. Even when I had to spend hours hand feeding her one piece of kibble at a time, she still wanted to stay among the living.

It breaks my heart that Dot wasn't really ready to go at the end. Her spirit never wavered, but her body finally gave up. Dot has been eating less and less for several weeks now. We gradually ran out of things that would interest her. When she lost interest in cheeseburgers and fried chicken, I began to become seriously worried that she wasn't getting enough nutrition to survive. Dot never gave up. On days where I thought she had given up eating entirely, she would miraculously rally and manage to eat just enough to survive to the next day.

Janet and I knew this couldn't continue, but it was equally obvious that Dot wanted to stay with us a bit longer. We controlled her pain with strong medication and let her eat anything she wanted. Even on days where she had no appetite, Dot still demanded her daily walk to the edge of the park.

Two days ago, Dot began throwing up what little she managed to eat during the day. We could tell she was becoming alarmingly thin and there were signs that her pain medication was losing its effectiveness. Last night Dot was miserable. She threw up everything she ate during the day around 3 AM and even that only provided partial relief. Dot had lost her battle to live.

This morning Dot wasn't even interested in bacon. I gave her an anti nausea pill and her pain medication and then fed her some water through a syringe to make sure none of the pills got stuck in her throat. She rested comfortably for the rest of the day while I made her final arrangements. I hate making life or death decisions, but it would be cruel to let her starve to death. I knew this morning that it was time. It is comforting to know that Dot has led an extraordinary and very happy life. She truly enjoyed being the alpha dog in a family that loved and appreciated her. Dot, I'm sorry I can't take you on a walk tomorrow morning. I really tried, but time just ran out on us.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2096 - 9/11

I left the house this morning fully intending to try the new restaurant. I came to an intersection where if I turned left, I would be headed toward the new restaurant and if I turned right, I'd be on my way to my regular place. The left lane of the cross street was bumper-to-bumper cars as far as the eye could see. The right lane was practically empty. I turned right and headed back to familiar territory. This is probably how I found my Friday restaurant in the first place. If I turned left, I would pass three schools on my way to the new restaurant. In the other direction there were no schools and very few cars. I always tend to follow the path of least resistance.

This reminded me of the Dr. Who episode called "Turn Left" where Donna Noble has to go back in time at a critical moment and convince an earlier version of herself to turn left at an intersection to reverse a chain of events that was going to destroy the world. I don't think turning right at my intersection this morning will cause anything drastic to happen, but it did make me wonder how today would have turned out if I turned left instead.

I probably made the right choice. I didn't have time to experiment today. When I got back from breakfast, there was barely time to take a quick shower and check my e-mail before it was time to take Dot to the cancer center for her Ultrasound scan. The oncologist said that the tumor was stable and not growing, so it was safe for Dot to discontinue her chemotherapy. She agreed that Dot looked stronger and wants us to monitor Dot's condition with a follow-up Ultrasound scan every two months. Sounds good to me. I'm really encouraged to see that Dot is getting stronger again. Admittedly, we're taking baby steps, but this is so much better than seeing her slide even further downhill.

It was a very different day fourteen years ago. We hadn't met Dot yet, but she was a very young puppy on the verge of becoming lost and abandoned. I hadn't started blogging yet and wasn't eating very healthy either. I'll always remember looking at the kitchen TV in stunned disbelief as I watched the twin towers fall while I ate a plate of French Toast floating in a sea of maple syrup. I would soon learn that I was on the road to diabetes and needed to change my ways. Watching the Today Show while eating that big plate of French Toast was the end of innocence in so many ways. The world has never been the same since. Dot found Janet and I through the Dalmatian Rescue organization and her story had a happy ending. I don't think the world was as lucky as Dot. We are still facing almost all the same problems we faced on September 11, 2001. Two wars certainly didn't help much. In retrospect, we should have left dictators like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi in place. They were the only thing keeping a population of zealots that were still living in the Middle Ages in check. We've opened Pandora's box, and as the world descends into chaos, I'm not sure that anyone has a plan to close it again.

I certainly don't have any solutions.  There are too many of us on this planet and we keep making more. We are consuming the planet's resources at an alarming rate. Some of use are living in the twenty first century while others are still living in the fourteenth century. This can't end well. It really shouldn't be surprising that I prefer the company of dogs. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if that giant asteroid hadn't wiped out the dinosaurs sixty five million years ago. Maybe the dinosaurs would have done a better job of things.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1984

Today didn't exactly go as planned. I didn't get my car back from the shop because, after the wheel was repaired, the paint shop didn't match the color of the other three wheels. It has to go back to the paint shop for a new, and hopefully more accurate, powder coating. The U-verse service technician didn't arrive as promised either. I waited and waited and finally the guy showed up around 4:30 PM. He was supposed to arrive at 1 PM. Since Dot is hard of hearing, she didn't notice when the technician knocked on the door. Several minutes later she saw him in the living room and barked so hard that she pooped on the carpet. This is why you don't want to get an old dog too excited. Barking and pooping often happen simultaneously.

It turns out that the U-verse problem wasn't the router, the TV receiver, the WiFi hub, or anything else in the house. The entire line that runs down the alley has gone bad and needs to be replaced. My technician said that they needed a different type of technician to fix the wire, so I've got a new service appointment for tomorrow. U-verse service is still down. Oddly, even though U-verse is down, Roku, Hulu, Chromecast, and the pet cam, which all connect to the same IP network still work. In many ways losing U-verse is no great loss. Telemarketers are the only people who call on the land line. Roku and Hulu a pretty good alternative to U-verse TV. And my little T-Mobile 4G hotspot is even faster than U-verse Internet service. I wonder why I even bother with U-verse.

Since I was stuck in the house for most of the day waiting for the U-verse technician to arrive, I had lots of time to work on various Internet projects. I added some online forms to one client's site and had enough time left over to finish my first real mobile site. The site looked pretty good, so I went ahead and launched it. Hopefully the client will like what I've done. If they don't, I built in a back-door that will let me revert to the old site very quickly if needed. Working this way is so much faster than trying to schedule a meeting to present something. I don't mind changing things if I've gotten something wrong. It's easy to get feedback from clients if a site is live and almost impossible if they're just speculating about something that doesn't even exist yet.

It looks like the rain is going to continue through the weekend. According to the long-range forecast on my phone, the rain will continue forever. The app looks ahead two weeks and there is a little thunderstorm icon on every single day. It's rained so relentlessly that I'm actually starting to adapt to it. I've rigged up a pump on the roof that will remove about 80% of the water with me needing to be up there. This won't keep the roof dry, but it will significantly reduce the weight of the standing water and make it easier for me to sweep off the remaining water when the rain quits. I'm becoming adapt at finding dry intervals to walk the dogs too. Even the rainiest days have little gaps between the storms.

Supposedly my car will be finished tomorrow and U-verse service will be restored. I kind of doubt that either of those things will happen. The only thing I'm sure of is that the dogs will get two walks and we'll all enjoy a good breakfast

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1982

I've been telling people that I've got a huge hole in my jaw where my wisdom tooth used to be. No one believes me. They think I'm a whiner. Well, the dentist believed me. "That's a mighty deep socket you've got there," he said. He was surprised that it had been a month since I had the tooth extracted and said said the socket usually starts filling in by now. I asked him how long it would be before my extraction site would fully heal and he said it could be as long as six to nine months. Great. I'm going to have to keep doing salt water and antiseptic rinses after every meal for the rest of the year.

The dentist can't even begin to repair the adjacent tooth for another six weeks. He said that filling this particular tooth would be very difficult because of the location of the cavity, and he wanted the empty wisdom tooth socket to heal some more before he even attempted to fill the tooth next to it. He also said I need a new crown on the tooth next to the one that needs to be filled. Basically, the last three teeth on the lower right side of my jaw are toast.

I just got finished paying for the oral surgery and now it looks like fixing the next two teeth is going to cost even more. Yikes. I don't know why crowns are so expensive. The last time I had a crown it cost me $500. Now it costs two or three times as much for a dentist to create these pricy little porcelain caps. Growing older sucks. It was much more fun to spend my money on cameras and guitars than on medical bills and prescription drugs.

I'm taking what I've learned playing around with my responsive test site and using this somewhat fuzzy knowledge to built my first mobile site for a client. CSS classes and structured HTML are finally starting to make a little sense. It's kind of sad that I'm probably not be able to use Dreamweaver and Fireworks in the future. Adobe has basically abandoned these stand-alone products anyway. The Dreamweaver software I use isn't even updated anymore. If you want the latest and greatest Adobe innovations you have to get a subscription to their Creative Cloud products. The software I'm using to build responsive websites is all cloud based as well.

Dot seems a bit stronger today. I don't know shy she has good days and bad days, because life is very consistent around here. I don't know why I have good days and bad days either. I hope Dot does well at her physical therapy session tomorrow. I've got lots of questions for the vet. I don't know how hard I should push her. She really needs the exercise to build muscle, but she's very old too. Since Dot is extremely food motivated, she's starting to gain weight again as well. Extra weight makes it even harder for her to stand under her own power. Without treats, it's hard to get dogs with limited mobility to do anything though.

Tonight is the very last David Letterman show. I saw the show live once when I was in New York, but I wouldn't be surprised if I slept through tonight's finale.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1947

There are days when I feel like I don't even exist. I'm just a ghost in the machine, silently cleaning up dog poop, sweeping rainwater off the roof, and writing articles that are instantly forgotten if they are read at all. I'd like to convince myself that what I do actually matters, but there is often very little evidence that it does. This is the problem with depending on dogs for companionship. You learn to live in the moment, but you don't get a lot of feedback. I know when the dogs want to eat. where they want to walk, and if they are in pain, but I don't really know what they are thinking. Maybe life is just as much of a mystery to them.

It was a shame to waste such a beautiful day up on the roof, but I'm already starting to see mosquitoes and it's more important than ever to dry things out. The warmer it gets, the more the standing water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. With more reported cases of West Nile Virus every year, you hate to tempt fate. Today, I mucked around in my bare feet so I wouldn't get my dog walking boots wet. The water was warm, but very slippery. I made a mental note not to get near the edge of the roof. The more I see how deep this water gets after a hard rain, the more impressed I am that the roof doesn't leak. It's almost like we've got a duck pond on our roof.

Dot is getting increasingly independent. I'm letting her wander around the house on her own now and I can tell she enjoys the freedom. She still wears the Help 'Em Up Harness all the time, but I seldom need to support her rear legs anymore. I've tied a lightweight nylon leash to the rear handle of the harness that I hold loosely as she walks around. If she starts to slip, this connection to the harness still lets me prevent her from falling. It gives her more independence though and she's learning to walk more confidently on her own. Dot still can't back up very well, or navigate tight corners in the kitchen, but she's getting there. I wonder if her vet will see as much improvement as I have this week when I take her for her physical therapy session tomorrow.

Tax day came and went without incident. My taxes are filed and I'll get a small refund. I can't believe how complex my taxes are, considering how little money I make. By the time the Schedule C, Schedule D, Schedule E, Schedule K-1, home office deductions and half a dozen other esoteric forms are completed, it feels like I'm submitting a book. My accountant makes fun of how little money I make. It's a joke to him, since he remembers when I used to make much, much more, but it's not very funny to me. I should make a lot of money, but my skills just aren't as valuable as they were in the 1980's and 90's. I guess I could have changed professions, but I continue to dance with the one who brung me. I'm a writer who hates meetings and can barely tolerate my fellow man. In many ways I feel lucky that I can still pay the bills on my own terms.

I wanted to install a free Unix program on my computer that could read the dogs MRI scans today, but I discovered that the X-Code application that allows me to run Unix and Linux applications on my Mac was out of date. Increasing, I am being prodded into upgrading to Maverick or Yosemite or whatever the current operating system flavor is these days. I'm still running Lion because this is the end of the road for most of my existing software. It's too expensive to upgrade everything and I don't feel like upgrading anyway. I'm tempted to dig an old computer out of the storage warehouse and start running System 9 again. I was happier in those days.

Krissy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1922

Weekends were always busy. Now, they're becoming impossible. When you try to add a week's worth of postponed activities to your normal weekend errand list, not everything gets done. Janet and I both had lots to do today and neither of us got everything finished. I guess this is the new normal, just like the mismatched rugs covering the floors, the dog beds in every room, and the metal playpen in the living room.

Dot is sleeping much better now. Since we've discontinued the prednisolone, she doesn't have to go outside to pee in the middle of the night anymore. I need to help her when she wakes up and wants to circle around and change positions, but I can almost do this in my sleep. I still had to get up early, so I could walk Dash, mail some bills and go to the bank before Janet had to take her car in for service, but all-in-all, I think everyone got a good night's sleep.

The pet store was nice enough to let us return the crate we got for Dot immediately after surgery. As soon as she got strong enough to protest, she refused to sleep in it. It was a nice, sturdy crate, but if Dot refuses to use it, it is just something else to trip over in the bedroom. Now that we have the circular pen in the living room, we probably don't need a crate anyway. Janet bought some sort of a hammock thing while she was out today that she says is a safe way to transport Dot in the car. I'll read the instructions and install it tomorrow and see if it works. About half the things we get for Dot's rehabilitation work and the other half don't. At least the pet stores have been pretty good about taking back the things that didn't work.

I don't know how much more of this rain I can take. It rained again today. Our yard is as soggy as a wet sponge. The park is a mud pit. And if you don't pick up the dog poop immediately, you can never find it the next day. I got a new pair of waterproof boots, but I continue to wear the old leaky pair and throw my wet socks in the wash as soon as I get home. This doesn't make any logical sense, but I hate to ruin a new pair of shoes before I even get them broken in. At least Dot's incision has healed nicely and I don't need to worry about it getting wet in the rain anymore.

Maybe I'll get more done tomorrow. I certainly hope so. There is still some shopping that needs to get finished, there is lots of water on the roof, I never made it to the post office, and I haven't been to the gym in a long time. I've noticed that the grass is starting to grow in the front yard too. This means that mowing the grass will soon be on my weekend chore list as well. I wonder if the lawn mower battery survived the Winter? Maybe next week I'll find out.

As you can probably tell, I'm totally burned out. Dot's amazing ability to bounce back makes it all worthwhile though. After all she's been through this year, I never would have dreamed that she would have responded so well to the risky surgery. Nobody, not even her surgeon and neurologist, can believe Dot is fourteen years old. She is definitely the Energizer Bunny of Dalmatians. I wish I had Dot's energy. Unfortunately, everybody can believe I'm in my mid-sixties. I might as well wear a sign that says "Grumpy Old Man."

Big Boy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1920

Things are looking up. Dot seems a little stronger today. Her energy level and ability to walk varies from day-to-day, but today was one of the good days. Dot and Dash both seemed calmer than yesterday. They were content to sleep while I worked and let me eat my breakfast without any major disruptions. I wish I knew why Dot seems better on some days than others. Her recovery is not a linear process. Maybe she just got a good night's sleep last night. Maybe I slept better as well. From what I can see, a relaxed family seems to be a happy family.

Towards the end of the day, the UPS man delivered the collapsible dog pen that we've been waiting for. So far, Dot seems to like it. The pen is large enough for her to stretch out and reposition herself when necessary, but it is still small enough to keep her from getting into trouble. The six-sided, segmented metal pen is heavier than I thought it would be, but it is well made and should be durable. We'll see how easy it is to move it from room to room later.

All things considered, I got quite a bit done today. I made some website revisions, finished my writing assignments, and made quite a bit of progress in getting my tax materials ready for the accountant. I'm getting used to the new coffee maker and all the household appliances are working properly. On days like this I think that maybe I'll survive this ordeal after all.

It probably helped that it didn't rain today. Rain was in the forecast, but all we got were a few light sprinkles. I think the rain just got postponed until tomorrow. All the current forecasts suggest that tomorrow will be very wet. It doesn't look like I'll get to go out for breakfast tomorrow. I'm still not comfortable leaving Dot alone in the pen and there may be thunderstorms anyway. I guess I can survive one more day eating cold cereal.

Now that our house is filled with cheap rugs and there is a metal playpen in the living room, I'm feeling better about our rehabilitation program for Dot. We've had a few false starts and bought some things we didn't actually need, but we're getting there. Now I just need to figure out an easy, safe way to transport Dot back and forth to her physical therapy sessions. So far, I've found some easy solutions that aren't really safe and some safe solutions that aren't easy to implement. I know there is something better out there. Dot is doing well, but when we are able to resume her acupuncture sessions and underwater treadmill workouts, I think we'll see even more progress.

It's weird not going to the bank, post office, and pharmacy almost every day. I do these things on weekends now. These little rituals only took me away from the house for a few minutes at a time, but somehow they made all the difference. I can tell that Dot is really looking forward to regaining her freedom. So am I.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1917

We've got a new schedule now. We get up several hours earlier than we did yesterday. The dogs get fed. Dot's nighttime bedding gets put away. And I take Dash on a walk, while Janet is getting ready for work. This is pretty much the same schedule we had before Janet's brief retirement, but when Dot was healthy, the dogs and I just stayed in bed while Janet was getting dressed. Now, we need to coordinate things, so Dot is always under supervision.

On days like today, getting up early isn't so bad. The temperature was warm and there was a beautiful sunrise that changed colors minute by minute as we made our way through the park. When we returned, I traded placed with Janet and was in charge of the dogs for the rest of the day.

Dot is a handful. If you crate her, or contain her in her safe area, she barks continually. If you let her stay nearby, you have to watch her like a hawk. Dot has already learned to stand up on her own again. I was sitting right next to her at breakfast and when I turned my head for one second, Dot was standing on all fours, and drinking from her water bowl. Another time, when I was loading the dishwasher, she was walking down the hall toward the bedroom. You may be thinking that if Dot can stand and walk, the problem has been solved. Nope. Dot is still very wobbly and can't stand for very long. If I'm not there to support her rear legs using the Help 'Em Up Harness, she will quickly fall over and hurt herself. Since it will take up to a month for her to heal from her extensive surgery, she's going to feel better before she actually is better.

Breakfast is not a peaceful interlude anymore. There is lots of barking and I have to lead Dot back to her bed again and again when she tries to get up. If I let Dot be a part of things during mealtimes though, she will reward me by sleeping peacefully for the rest of the morning. When Dot is asleep in her safe area, I take a shower and get started on my work for the day. Generally, things went pretty well today, except when I needed to go to the bathroom and was in the wrong end of the house with Dot. It is surprisingly difficult to lead a dog around by the tail. We're learning though. I have to get a little better at planning ahead and Dot needs to get a little better at listening to me.

I'm not sure that my new single serve coffee maker is any better than the old one. It's very easy to make a cup of coffee, but if you decide your want two or three cups, you have to clean out the filter, add more beans and start over again. I think the solution is to just get a bigger coffee cup. This machine will fill up to a 16 ounce cup at a time, and that's usually plenty for breakfast. You can wash all the parts in the dishwasher, so the machine is easy to clean, but the parts are plastic, so they will probably break, just like every other coffee maker I've had. They do make durable, all metal automatic coffee makers, but they are ridiculously expensive. I'm not a barista. I just want a nice, trouble-free cup of coffee with breakfast. I really should have just got one of those glass French Press coffee pots and filled it with boiling water from the tea pot. That seems easy.

During the dogs afternoon nap, I was able to get up on the roof and start patching the trouble spots. On close inspection, I discovered three more areas where the white elastomer top coat had torn and exposed the black adhesive below. This is not supposed to happen. I'm going to call the roofer, but roofers always have an excuse. I doubt highly that they will put on an entirely new roof because of a few tears in the elastomer. Making the best of a bad situation, I patched all the bad spots with the same tough elastomer the roofers used. Hopefully, my patches will have time to dry completely before the Spring rains resume later in the week.

Tomorrow, and every day for the rest of the month, will be a repeat of today. Hopefully Dot will continue to get stronger as the month progresses and I won't go insane trying to manage this odd three-ring circus. We made it through day one. Now it's on to day two.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1912

I threw a load of laundry in the dryer this morning and got an error message. The dryer is broken. It runs for about five seconds and then shuts off. Too bad this malfunction didn't occur a month ago when I had the appliance repairman out to the house to fix the washing machine. I could have gotten both of these unreliable appliances fixed at the same time. Life was simpler when our machines were mechanical. Mechanical things usually give you a warning before they fail. You would typically hear odd squeaks and rattles that weren't there before. These early warning signs have saved me many times. Now when something goes wrong, you just get a cryptic error message on a circuit board. Usually these messages mean that the circuit board itself has gone bad.

I managed to get a repairmen out this afternoon, but the dryer is still not working. These repairs are a two step process now. The repairman comes out to assess the situation. Then he almost always has to order a part and returns to fix the machine a week or so later. Since I am obsessed with doing laundry, this is a real inconvenience. I hate going to the laundromat, but what choice do I have? I took the wet clothes out of the dryer, gathered up a pile of quarters, and went to the laundromat to dry them off while Janet watched Dot.

While I was waiting for the clothes to dry, I drove to a nearby Home Depot and got a gallon of elastomer to patch the roof with. I could have called the roofers, but lord know when they would have gotten around to fixing things. I'm really tired of things breaking, but seem powerless to stop these mishaps. At least the car didn't break down while I was running errands this afternoon. Janet thought it would be easier to just buy a new dryer, but I remembered how much trouble it was to get the one we have into the utility room in the first place. You have to carefully measure each appliance to make sure it will fit in the small allotted space and then when the machine arrives, you have to completely take the door off the utility room, because it is such a tight fit. Apparently the washer and dryer we bought aren't very reliable, but at least they fit in the room.

The hospital called today to remind us of Dot's appointment to have her sutures removed tomorrow. I had carefully written the date down in my iCal calendar when Dot was initially released from the hospital, but somehow I got the time wrong. Why do I do this so often? I'm glad we got a reminder, because we would have been late otherwise. Hopefully Dot will feel a little better once her stitches are out.

Janet wanted to test our safe space for Dot by leaving the house for a short time and watching her on the baby monitor. She was resting peacefully when we left, but as soon as she heard the car start, she sat up in her pen and began barking frantically. We only drove around the block, but I didn't have the heart to go further. Dot is stubborn. She would have continued barking until she wore herself out. So much for any plans to leave the house. I will have to think of a Plan-B, because once that Janet returns to work, it will be impossible for me to stay in the house continually.

Jeez, I must have fallen asleep with a finger on the return key while I was writing this, because I just had to remove what seemed like a mile of line break tags from the blog's HTML. Oh, well. I'm awake now and Dot gets her stitches out in the morning. There's something to be said for that. I hope the dryer gets fixed soon. You definitely don't want to listen to me talking about dirty laundry for the next week.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1909

We got a nice collapsible soft canvas crate to we can transport Dot back and forth to physical therapy after her stitches come out. When we tried to introduce her to the crate, she got scared and pooped in it. Oh, well. So much for taking the crate back to the store if it doesn't work out. This crate is smaller than a normal crate on purpose, because we want her to stay secure and in one place in the car. Dot fits in the crate just fine, but we didn't count on her having claustrophobia. So far, she hates the thing.

Although we struck out on the soft crate, we did figure out a good place for Dot to stay while I'm working around the house. Instead of a crate, I put a comfortable dog bed in a hallway that I can see from my desk in the office and used two wooden kiddie gates on either side to turn the bed into a pen. Dot seemed fine with this arrangement and slept peacefully for several hours while I worked on getting caught up on my website assignments. I put another dog bed right next to this fenced in area for Dash to sleep and everyone was happy for the first time in days.

I don't usually do website work on Sundays, but taking care of Dot has put me behind on several things. It was nice to have a quiet afternoon to get caught up on work while the dogs slept peacefully. This tranquility didn't last long unfortunately. We had burgers for dinner and Dot was mad that she couldn't sit under the table like she used to do and wait for table scraps. Even though we placed a dog bed as close to the dining table as we could, it wasn't close enough for her. Every time we would sit down at the table, Dot would try to get up.

The better Dot feels, the harder it becomes to look after her. It's OK for Dot to walk with assistance.  It's not OK for her to try to walk on her own yet. She can stand on her own for short periods of time now, but she still can't get up without assistance. Although she moves her legs well, she can't walk without assistance either. If I wasn't steadying her rear legs with the harness, she would quickly stumble and fall. All this would be very discouraging if it weren't for the fact that Dot seems to get a little better each day. The neurologist told us that recovery from this type of surgery was a long slow process. We've just got to be patient and make sure that Dot stays out of harm's way while she's learning to walk again.

Just as I predicted, there is more water on the roof now. It rained again today. It's not that bad though. All we got today was some drizzle and light showers. I think I'm going to wait until the weather clears up for at least a week before I go up on the roof again. It's just not worth the trouble to do this every other day. I'm beginning to think it's not worth the trouble to move every clock in the hour an hour forward either. Every time Daylight Savings Time rolls around I'm amazed at how many clocks we have around the house. I mush have spent an hour resetting wall clocks, table clocks, clocks in the television, clocks in the phone, and a variety of wristwatches. The computers, the phones, and even the new thermostat all managed to reset themselves this morning.

My teeth didn't hurt today. Maybe I've been grinding my teeth at night. I do that from time to time when I'm stressed. It's funny how wonderful a good night's sleep can seem when you're not sleeping well. Maybe tonight will be the night. It all depends on Dot. When Dot is sleeping well, we all sleep well.

Bacardi 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 1907

It was nice to get out for a while this morning. The snow is gone and the weather is warming up. It seemed like a perfect day to get a haircut, enjoy a delicious breakfast and do a little shopping. None of these things took that long, but they were important. With a full belly, some new jeans for Spring, and a decent haircut, I felt ready for anything.

Dot woke up feeling great this morning. I think that her acupuncture session yesterday evening really helped her. She's walking faster now and doesn't crisscross her legs as much. Today, for the first time, I noticed that she's learned to redistribute her weight when she starts to slip to one side. I'm still providing support for her rear legs using the Help 'Em Up Harness, but I can tell that each passing day, she is doing more of the work herself. The challenge is to encourage her to walk without leaving her unsupervised or letting her walk on her own. Dot is an obedient dog and if I constantly told her to lie down or stay in her crate, I think she'd become discouraged and wouldn't even try after a while. I let her sleep as long as she wants, but when she's active, we do a lot of physical therapy.

I forgot to take the trash out to the curb last night and by the time I woke up this morning, the truck has already come and gone. There's just too much to remember these days. I forgot my morning meds as well. You guys need to remind me about this stuff. I don't know what to do about the trash. Since the can is almost full already, we'll never make it until next Thursday. It sure was nicer when the city picked up trash twice a week. Older neighbors say that a long time ago the trucks came three times a week. Probably the next step will be for the city to eliminate trash service altogether.

Dot was indignant today when I put her in her crate so I could take a shower and get a little house cleaning done. She hadn't been in the crate more than thirty minutes when I started to hear loud persistent parking. Dot was mad. She's perfectly willing to take a long nap, if she gets to pick the place. So far, I haven't been able to convince her to take her naps in my office. I'm glad that Dot is more active, but I'm still trying to figure out how to stay active myself. Being a good dog nurse is almost a full time job.

If the weather stays nice this weekend, I'll wash the car, get the water off the roof, and clean up the back yard a bit. I need to start looking for a soft dog crate that I can put in the back of my car. The sooner I can start transporting Dot in the car, the sooner we can begin her water therapy again. There's going to be so much to do this Spring, but on a sunny, warm day like today, anything seems possible. Let's hope there are a lot of sunny days in the weeks ahead.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1901

Although the weather got even worse overnight, Dot continues to get better. I was amazed that Dot's medical team even managed to get to the hospital today, since roads throughout the area were a sheet of ice when we woke up this morning. We were a little nervous when we didn't get our usual morning progress report phone call from the neurologist, but I imagine that things were pretty hectic at the hospital today. When we did get the call, everyone was all smiles. Dot continues to beat the odds with her amazing strength and determination. The neurologist told me that she and and others at the hospital find it hard to believe how old Dot actually is, since she continues to act like a much younger dog.

Dot is using her legs more than she was yesterday and appears to be in good spirits. Her appetite is good and she is sleeping well without strong sedatives. The hospital has already discontinued narcotic painkillers like Tramadol because Dot doesn't appear to need them. I'm glad they did this. I've never liked Tramadol anyway. It can be very addictive and has been responsible for many more accidental overdose deaths in humans than most people realize.

If Dot continues to improve at her current rate, she may end up being one of the lucky dogs who begin walking again in two or three weeks. Her nurse says she is already trying to put weight on her rear legs, although she still receives support from the Help "Em Up Harness whenever she tries to move. When I was using the harness with Dot before her surgery I could easily tell when she was trying to walk. There is a handle on the rear part of the harness just above the dogs hips and you hold it so the rear legs touch the ground without having to bear much weight. It feels a bit like being a puppeteer. As you get better at using the harness, you can sense when the muscles are working and when to provide more support. You can even encourage natural leg motion with subtle movement of your wrist. I think it is fantastic that Dot is already tentatively trying to walk, because I have heard that it can take up to three months before this happens.

The weather is so bad that Dot is much better off at the hospital that she'd be at home right now. Our yard is still slick and icy and the house is a bit chilly. Luckily, our furnace is working great this winter and there haven't been any problems with roof leaks. I'm used to spending lots of time in the house, but Janet is already getting cabin fever. She was determined to get out today and decided to go do her usual Saturday errands anyway despite the bad roads.

As the day progressed, the traffic in front of the house began to move faster and faster until I eventually became convinced that the roads were safe. I bundled up in a warm coat and left to do my errands as well. This was probably a mistake. The first thing I encountered was an enormous downed tree that had fallen across the road, blocking all but a single lane of traffic. When I successfully navigated this logjam, I quickly discovered that everyone in town had cabin fever. The roads were actually crowded today.

Most roads were clear and dry, except when they weren't. There were still patches of black ice here and there and they often caught people driving fifty miles an hour completely by surprise. Even though most of the ice had melted by mid-afternoon, I still saw quite a few wrecks. I drive slowly in this type of weather, never braking hard and coasting to a stop wherever I can. I'm always keeping an eye on my rear view mirror. I learned to drive in Alaska where the roads were icy all Winter. Ice is seldom the problem. It's the driver behind you who ignores the ice that causes most of the wrecks.

Dash has already appropriated Dot's special new dog bed. This is a minor problem though. Dogs are just like children in many ways. Tomorrow we will work on getting the house ready for Dot's return. If her progress continues, she could come home as soon as Monday afternoon.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1900

When Dot's neurologist called this morning to give us a progress report, she seemed pleased. Dot is already eating and drinking water on her own, so she was taken off of IV fluids today. When the nurses help her out to pee using a special sling under her belly, Dot moves her rear legs and even squats fairly normally. She can't support her own weight yet, or walk unassisted, but the neurologist assures me that this is normal at this stage of the game. Dot is still very weak and on a lot of pain medication, but everyone at the hospital thinks she's doing even better than expected. Her doctors are optimistic that she will learn to walk again.

I'm glad Dot is safe and warm at the hospital now, because the weather in Dallas has turned cold and nasty. It snowed most of the day and the temperature never got above freezing. Traffic was a nightmare and there were lots of wrecks all over the city. Janet and I both canceled afternoon appointments when we saw how the traffic was inching along in front of our house. It just wasn't worth trying to get out in this mess. You don't really worry about snow or ice when you venture out on days like this. You worry about the other drivers. A single idiot who doesn't know how to drive on snow can snarl up traffic for hours.

Dash is such a baby about walking in the rain that I didn't think he'd go out in the snow at all. Much to my surprise, he seemed to enjoy the stuff. We took a long walk where he hopped around in the small drifts, smelled the tracks left by other animals in the snow, and peed on everything. I think I got cold long before Dash did. I took some pictures while we were out to document the rare snowfall. The one I liked the best captured a single perfect snowflake caught in a spiderweb. If you look carefully, you can see the six sided flake suspended in the web.

We were going to visit Dot this weekend, but that will depend on the weather. It could get better tomorrow, or it could get worse. I think even the weather forecasters have given up trying to predict things. Two days ago, they said it was going to be sunny today. UPS delivered Dot's new rehabilitation dog bed this evening. It looks like it's about the right size and can be easily repositioned around the house when needed. Now we've just got to figure out an easy way to quickly assemble a secure fence around the bed when we have to leave. A friend said that that we could use some of the rubber backed rugs she'd used when she had an older dog who had difficulty walking. Slowly but surely, we're getting the house ready for Dot's return.

I'm glad I went to my favorite restaurant yesterday, because I certainly didn't feel like venturing out in the snow today. Apparently, not everybody shared my aversion to the wet stuff. Schools closed early and children were enjoying sledding down hills all over the neighborhood. I guess I've lost the fascination with snow I had as a child. I didn't build a snowman or even make a snow angel. It was fun watching Dash cavort around in the snow on our walk, but even he was glad to get back inside again where it was warm. I've got my fingers crossed for another sudden temperature reversal and a quick return to warmer weather. With the fickle Winter we've been having, it could happen at any time.

Thanks for keeping Dot in your thoughts and prayers. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's report from her medical team and I'll keep you posted on how she's doing. This remarkable dog has beat the odds again and again. Dot has been an inspiration to me for many years and it looks like the old girl is not ready to relinquish her role as the head of the household yet.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1899

I've been on pins and needles all day. Time passes very slowly when things are completely out of your control. We got up early this morning and drove Dot to the veterinary specialty center in Lewisville so she could be admitted for surgery. We filled out a bunch of paperwork, said goodbye to Dot, and then we waited. It was very quiet in the house today without Dot to warn us of cats and squirrels in the back yard. Even Dash could sense that something was wrong. I could tell Dot was scared when we were admitting her to the hospital this morning. I tried to reassure her, but I don't think I did a very good job. I was scared too

I tried to keep myself busy while I waited for the all important phone call from the surgeon. I went out to breakfast, even though it was almost lunchtime when we arrived back in Dallas. I finished a couple of writing assignments and sent them off to the client. I took Dash on a long and somewhat cold walk and then did a lot of pacing around the house. Finally, about 4:30 PM, the call I'd been waiting for arrived. The surgeon had good news. The arduous three hour surgery has gone well. The surgeon felt that she had been successful in removing the broken disc fragments in the L1 vertebrae that had been pressing on Dot's spinal cord. Now that the spinal cord is no longer compressed, the nerves will have a chance to heal and if we are lucky, Dot will walk again. Sometimes when a spinal disc ruptures, the fragments become attached to, or embedded in nearby blood vessels and are very difficult to remove. Dot was lucky. The fragments that had broken off and caused her paralysis were still clean and the surgeon was successful in removing all of them.

Dot is still not out of the woods yet, but she survived the surgery. That's the important thing. When the surgeon called, Dot was just waking up from anesthesia and was still under heavy sedation. She will be watched carefully tonight and for the next several days until her condition stabilizes. On Saturday, Dot's physical therapy vet will come to the hospital to give her acupuncture. This, along with cold pacs and laser treatments, will help reduce inflammation and speed healing.The best thing I heard from the surgeon today was that while Dot was waking up from anesthesia, she moved her rear legs. It was just a reflex action, but it means that there is still a nerve connection between the legs and the spine. There is hope.

Dot will spend the next five days in the hospital. While she is recovering, Janet and I will try to prepare the house for her return. We will need to connect the rooms with rubber backed carpet runners so Dot can safely move about without slipping on the brick floors. We will construct a "safe" area where we can leave Dot for short periods of time when we have to leave the house. It is very difficult to crate a large dog with leg injuries, so I am envisioning something that can be placed securely around a dog bed, so she cannot attempt to get up and move about on her own without supervision. Even if things go very well, we will have to continue to support Dot using the Help 'Em Up Harness for quite a while.

Our very first Dalmatian had spinal surgery to remove a tumor when he was eight years old. Spot's recovery was difficult for all of us, but he did learn to walk again and continued to live a happy life. I'm hoping that Dot can do the same. Spot's spinal surgery was the first. I'm hoping that Dot's will be the last. After dealing with nine difficult surgeries on five different dogs, I'm not sure I have the stamina to do this again.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1898

I'll never get used to Texas weather. There was rain mixed with sleet when I woke up. By the time I finished breakfast, the rain had turned to snow. By lunchtime the snow had already melted. By the time I took Dash on his evening walk there were clear blue skies and sixty five degree temperatures. This happens frequently. Actually, I think we are supposed to repeat the whole schizophrenic weather pattern this weekend.

I spent a big chunk of today retouching a photo for a client in Photoshop. It amazes me how much Photoshop has changed the way we look at things during the past twenty years. Photoshop isn't just for Sports Illustrated swimsuit models these days. Everybody uses it. We have gotten so used to looking at idealized perfection that people can't seem to tolerate images that show anything less.

Against my better judgement, I climbed up on the roof and cleared the accumulated water off the roof as soon as the skies cleared. There was an enormous amount of standing water on the roof and I didn't want it to freeze. Yes, within 48 hours another cold wave will arrive and we will have sub-freezing temperatures again. I wish I could just ignore the water, but it is so heavy that the longer I leave it, the sooner it will cause the roof to settle and buckle even more. I think the low spots are already sinking lower, because less water seems to drain off the edge of the roof than it did a few years ago. At least the roof doesn't leak anymore, but my fear is that the roof leaks will start again if I leave four inches of water on top of it continually. In July this water would just evaporate after a rain. Not in February.

I wish I could report that Dot had miraculously started walking again, but she still spends her day laying in various soft dog beds scattered around the house, waiting for me to move her around, or take her out to pee. She is in remarkably good spirits, considering her lack of mobility, but this is no way to live. I really hope that the surgery provides some relief and allows the healing process to begin. If I could ask Dot if she wanted to go through major surgery again, I'm sure she would say no. If I could ask her if she wanted to walk again, I'm equally sure she would say yes. I hope we made the right choice.

I called the hospital again today to confirm our check-in time and continue to hope that Dot will stay strong and be able to cope with the difficult days she has ahead. The surgeon told me that some dogs begin walking on their own within two weeks after her type of surgery. Others of course, require months of physical therapy. I hope that Dot is one of the lucky ones. She has been my friend and constant companion for over a decade now and I don't want to lose her. Please keep Dot in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow as she goes through this difficult but necessary surgery. The surgery itself will take about three hours, which seems like a very, very long time to me.

It feels like there is still a lot of unfinished business today, but it is getting late and we all need some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day