Day 3605

The dentist quickly agreed that my retainer didn't fit. After he and his assistant made several attempts to adjust the retainer so it would fit better, they eventually gave up and decided to make me a new one. I was surprised that they were able to do this while I was there. I guess there are advantages to having an in-house lab. The new retainer fit much better but it required a bit of customization before it would fit properly. I don't think my teeth are that crooked, but apparently they are crooked enough to make fitting a retainer difficult. I asked the dentist if I was too old for orthodontia and he just laughed. "I have several patients in their eighties who are wearing braces," he said. "Your mouth is fine, " he added. "I wouldn't do anything." Hopefully, my retainer problems are over for a while until I manage to break this new one.

On the way home I stopped by the vintage guitar store to pick up a check. I asked the manager who bought my guitar and he said it was the bass player of a British rock band called Temples. They are on tour now and were playing in Dallas recently. It's not surprising that I've never heard of this group, but they are popular in Europe and have been on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as well as The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I listened to a couple of their songs on YouTube and the band was pretty good. Maybe my faithful fretless P-Bass will be featured in a future Temples music video.

My application to cover the Space X CRS-19 launch didn't get accepted. It's not the end of the world, but I was disappointed. Somehow I thought it would be easier to get launch access at Kennedy Space Center now that I've had a launch article published. Apparently this is not the case. Maybe my desire to get published in print publications is actually working against me. NASA seems more interested in getting a lot of social media coverage these days. I'd rather be in a magazine than on Instagram. Hey, it's not all bad. The next time an opportunity arises I'll apply again. While I'm waiting, I'll have more time to put some travel money aside. I've already been accepted to attend three of these special launch events. I'm almost certain that there'll be a fourth one of these days.

Maybe my roof repairs have finally worked. It rained again last night and the roof still hasn't leaked. I'll need to clear away the standing water soon. The weather keeps getting colder and I definitely don't want the water turning to ice. Maybe I'll go up on the roof tomorrow. It's been such a busy week that I haven't had time yet. I go to the doctor for my annual physical tomorrow. Usually this doesn't take long, but I didn't think my trip to the dentist today would take long either. I was at the dentist for quite a while today.

I didn't get started on my daily walk until late in the afternoon. By the time I returned home it was completely dark. The weather was cold and windy, so there weren't many joggers and cyclists in the park today. There were quite a few people walking their dogs in the dark though. That's what you do when you come home from work and your dog is waiting at the door to go out. I've spent many hours walking dogs in the dark.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3604

Today seemed productive. I didn't really do that much, but nothing went wrong. After breakfast I went to the storage warehouse to see if I might still have a copy of the banner I was thinking of reprinting. Nope. It wasn't there. I sent the file I found yesterday to the printer and told them to reprint the banner.

Next, I went to get a haircut. I was amazed to see that all the stores are already in full Christmas mode. There were Christmas trees and decorations everywhere. A crew was already putting together the little hut where kids come to see Santa. It still seems a little early to me, but what do I know. Maybe it was always this way.

My haircut took a while, but I wasn't in a hurry. When I left the mall I could have sworn there there were even more Christmas trees standing than when I arrived. I didn't stop at the Apple Store today. I have very little interest in computers anymore. I didn't stop at the Tesla Store either. When you're thinking about taking long car trips, an electric car doesn't sound that appealing. I guess it's good that I don't feel like buying things these days. I don't have the money anyway.

I found out this afternoon that the last of my vintage guitars has finally sold. The whole process took over a year but I'm happy with the results. I kept one guitar just in case I feel like playing again. I rarely take it out of its case. Maybe I'll sell that guitar one day as well. I'm a bit surprised that I don't miss anything that I've sold. I spent so long collecting some of this stuff and now that it's gone, it's quickly forgotten. I don't regret the years I spent accumulating things, but it's time to move on.

One of the reasons that I'm in a good mood is that even though it rained a lot recently, there have been no further leaks. I haven't been up on the roof yet either. I'm sure there is still standing water. Maybe my last repair attempts actually worked. Of course, a leak could still appear at any minute. That's the way it works with water. It's always waiting to surprise you. I'll leave the buckets out for another day, just to be safe.

Tomorrow, I go back to the dentist to see if they can fix my retainer. I hope they don't try to tell me that it is just fine the way it is. I'll quit wearing the contraption if that happens. The dentist seems confident that he can adjust the retainer. How? The thing is made of hard plastic and it either fits or it doesn't. I hate to make the long drive for a third time, but I'm kind of curious to see what they're going to do.

I took my walk toward the end of the day because of my hair appointment. The time change really makes a difference. I left the house around 3 PM and by the time I returned home the sun was already starting to set. All in all, I think I liked Daylight Savings Time better. I can always sleep a little later until the sun comes up, but when the day ends early you're stuck. I'd better get used to this. Early sunsets are going to be around for quite a while.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3597

Darn went to his forever home this morning. The couple who adopted him seemed very nice and they have had Dalmatians before. I think this is a good home. Darn might not realize it now, but his life is going to get a lot better. Hopefully, he will get a new name. Many of our new dogs came to us with very strange names. Sock and Jelly Bean seemed to know their names, but the others didn't. I wonder if Darn and Sock got named at the same time. Maybe somebody's sock had a hole in it. Darn is one of the shy dogs, but I think as soon as he starts to feel safe in his new home he's going to relax and start enjoying life.

It was very cold this morning. It was also very wet. After the cold front arrived yesterday, it continued raining for the rest of the night. It rained a lot. I left the pumps running overnight, but I don't think it helped much. Just before I got up this morning, I heard the sound of water dripping into a bucket. The water was coming from the same can light in the office ceiling as it was before. I guess my repairs didn't accomplish much.

It was disappointing that I wasn't able to stop the leak. I certainly tried my best. I have no idea how the water is getting in, but when you have four inches of standing water on a flat roof, water will find a way. The new roofer I called is going to come take a look at things tomorrow. I'm not very optimistic at this point, but I'm always open to suggestions.

I made an appointment to take my retainer back to the dentist. I tried to wear it again last night and it is clear that the thing doesn't fit. Soaking the retainer in hot water before trying to fit it didn't help at all. I should have had a proper fitting at the dentist before taking the retainer home, but the dentist and I were both in a hurry. They told me that these things almost always fit perfectly. I guess I am the exception to this rule.

I wore my winter clothes on this morning's walk. Maybe our hot summer wasn't so bad after all. The temperature was around forty degrees but there was a very strong wind. The wind chill effect made it feel like it was below freezing. I think it actually is going to dip below freezing later tonight. This is our first freeze warning of the fall. I finally remembered to bring the 24 volt battery for the electric lawnmower inside for the winter. It's anybody's guess whether the battery will still be good next spring, but at least I've made an effort to save it.

We can look forward to another very cold day tomorrow. At least the rain is over for a while. I went up on the roof this afternoon and swept all the water away. This stopped the leak for the moment. I'm sure it will return with the next heavy rainfall. All this is frustrating, but at least the tornado didn't blow down our house. We passed through some of the tornado damage on our way back from the kennel this morning and it looked even worse than the pictures I've been seeing. It's still hard to believe that all this destruction happened in just a few minutes.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3596

Every year it is the same. During the summer, I can't wait for winter to arrive. Then as soon as it turns cold, I'm wishing it was summer again. Fall is nice. It is unfortunate that it only lasts two weeks in Texas. Today was one of those cold, damp days that makes you regret getting out of bed. I should have just stayed under the covers this morning.

I had the park to myself today. It wasn't raining during my walk, but I kept expecting to get wet anyway. Maybe sweating isn't so bad. I wore a light down ski jacket, my wool hat, and some heavy hiking boots and by the time I returned home I was wishing I'd worn something warmer. Other walkers must have similar thoughts. I usually see lots of people in the park on hot days but very few on cold days. In other parts of the country, today's weather wouldn't even qualify as winter, but we're not used to the cold here in Texas. I was happy enough to stay inside with the furnace running for the rest of the day.

I tried my new retainer last night. It felt way too tight. At first I thought that the dentist had given me someone else's retainer by mistake. Then the thing clicked into place and I couldn't get it off again. I kind of panicked when the retainer appeared to be stuck and I was afraid I'd lose a tooth trying to remove it. Was the original retainer ever this tight? It's hard to remember. All I know is that my old broken retainer is very easy to remove. Sure, it's worn out and probably doesn't even work anymore, but I never worry about losing a tooth when I wear it at night. Janet said I should soak the retainer in warm water before using it at night to make it more flexible. I'll try that this evening. If this doesn't help, I'll have to go back to the dentist.

A former client wanted me to locate a picture I'd taken back in the early 1990's. Lots of luck with that. I spent several hours looking through files this afternoon and couldn't find the image she wanted.  I wish my memory was better. I found lots of similar images, but nothing that matched the low-resolution thumbnail I was given as a reference. The more I think about this, I have a feeling that another photographer took this picture. It was used in a website and I used lots of other photographer's pictures during this period of time. I'll keep looking, but I have a feeling that this is a lost cause.

The roof isn't leaking, but I have no idea whether my recent repairs worked. The roof is under water now and I won't be able to inspect things until the roof dries out again. Lord knows when that is going to happen. At this time of year we seem to get an endless series of cold fronts preceded by a line of storms. I know it is supposed to continue raining through tomorrow. Hopefully, the pumps will keep working. The pumps don't remove all the water on the roof, but they help keep the standing water from becoming too deep. I'll place buckets under suspicious areas before I go to bed and hope for the best.

We're going up to the kennel again tomorrow to meet with the family who will be adopting Darn. One by one, these dogs are finding good homes.

Dakota is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3595

The Dalmatians are doing well. Jelly Bean and Soldier have been adopted. There is someone who is interested in Ginny and I think Darn is being looked at as well. Lord and Leftie are still painfully shy, but they are making progress. They both seem to gain confidence when they are together. Jasmine is almost finished with her heartworm treatment and Ginny is about ready to begin hers. Luckily, these two girls are the only dogs that are curently heartworm positive. Hank is eating well, but seems to be losing weight again. The bloody stools haven't returned, but we still can't figure out why this dog is so thin. All in all, this is a good report card, but kennel life is stressful. Each of these dogs will do even better when they find their forever homes. A Dalmatian isn't really happy until they can counter surf and sleep on your bed.

I am totally frustrated with the weather forecast. It was supposed to be clear today but ended up raining this afternoon. I hope my roof repairs had time to dry properly. The rain was just a light drizzle, but moisture is moisture. As long as the silicon has developed a skin on the top surface, I think it should continue to cure even if it gets wet. We'll see. I'll go inspect things as soon as the weather dries out again.

I finally received my new retainer. I thought the dentist was going to mail it to me last week, but it never arrived. I called to see if the retainer was finished and we stopped on our way home from the Dalmatian kennels so I could pick it up. Hopefully, this will keep my teeth from getting even further out of alignment. It seems weird that your teeth keep shifting slightly throughout your life, but that's just the way it is.

I had to take a shorter walk today so I'd have time to visit the Dalmatians. It's just as well I didn't complete the entire five miles. It was one of those foggy, damp days were you start out dry and end up wet, even though you aren't aware of rain falling. I wonder if the little circus in the park will come back next year. They've had terrible weather for two years in a row. I can't imagine that they've made much money this year. At least half of their performances have been rained out.

Roofer number four is going to come look at the house later this week. I don't expect their estimate to be much different than the first three roofers, but at least I'm doing something. Maybe they will suggest something new. An old house that has settled is full of problems. Cracks develop. Doors and windows stick. Plumbing starts to leak. All this seems minor compared to the roof though.

I don't know why I'm not sleeping well. Right after Dash died I started sleeping a lot better. Now I'm back to waking up several times a night. I don't have insomnia. I just wake up a lot. Life is full of little mysteries. As always, I'll go to sleep tonight watching an old episode of Perry Mason that I've seen many time before and hope for the best. It seems to be a lot easier to walk 20,000 steps than it is to sleep eight hours.

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3582

I went to the dentist today and got impressions made for my new retainer. It actually took longer to drive to my appointment than to make the impressions. I was in and out in fifteen minutes. It always seems weird when the dentist fills your mouth with what looks like bathroom caulk and has you bite down on a spacer that presses the stuff into your teeth. I'm always convinced that this mess will stick to my teeth and be impossible to remove. After two minutes the goop hardens and pulls away cleanly though, making a perfect impression of your teeth. This will serve as a mold to make the actual retainer which should be ready on Thursday. I asked if they could just mail it to me, but the dentist needs to make sure the retainer fits properly. Looks like I'm going to have to drive all the way up to the dentist again.

It rained again during the night and this morning I noticed what appeared to be a small leak in the office. The water looked like it was coming through a can light in the ceiling. I've never had a leak in this spot before, so this was very disappointing. It's too bad it rained on the same day I got the silicon roof coating. Due to the weather, I still haven't been able to make any repairs. I cleared away all the standing water after I took my walk today and am hoping for the best. The long range forecast says it's not going to rain again until next Monday. Hopefully I can patch things before then.

This weather is driving me nuts. This Fall we have already had two cold fronts that only lasted one day each. Yesterday it was back to ninety degrees and today was super muggy. The humidity was so high that my shirt was drenched before I even finished my first mile. Tomorrow it is supposed to be cold again. I think the temperature at sunrise is expected to be fifty-five degrees. At least it isn't going to rain tomorrow. I've really got to get this roof fixed.

My allergies have been terrible this week. The windy days and swiftly changing weather probably have something to do with it. I was afraid I was going to be blowing my nose and sneezing on the dentist while he was making my impressions, so I took an antihistamine this morning. I rarely take antihistamines because they make me feel terrible. My nose stops dripping, but my entire head feels like it is wrapped in a blanket. I get an odd buzzing feeling that is hard to describe. I didn't want to sneeze on the dentist today, but generally I'd rather go through a box of Kleenex every hour than feel this way.

Janet is traveling again. This means I have to start cooking for myself again. Cooking to me generally means just heating something up in the microwave. I still like those Cadence Kitchen flash frozen meals though. You just heat them up in a skillet on the stove and ten minutes later you have a tasty and reasonably healthy meal. I like their Mexican Style Pulled Pork and Chicken Tikka Masala. I think they make a Paella Valenciana now too. There is a little too much salt in these meals, but not as much as I'd get if I went to a restaurant.

I can't decide whether to write the roofer again. He'd probably just ignore me. The gift of a $250 bucket of liquid silicon is his way of saying "don't bother me anymore." It's irritating to still have a leak though. The roof shouldn't be leaking. If he'd gotten me the silicon coating back in July, I probably wouldn't be having this problem.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3581

The Dalmatians are all doing well. We spent some extra time with Sock today, trying to help him become more comfortable outside his kennel run. He's relaxed a lot since he initially entered the rescue program, but he still doesn't like to go outside like the other dogs. The large play areas at the kennel make him feel nervous and the only place he seems to feel safe and secure is in his own bed. We're making progress but it takes patience. Each time we visit we try to get him comfortable with being in a slightly larger space. Sock is a very sweet dog and over time he'll learn that nothing bad is going to happen to him again.

Jasmine and Jelly Bean were fearful like Sock in the beginning, but they are both playful and trusting now. What a transformation in less than a month. Now that Treasure's stitches are out, she's is back to her normal happy self and doesn't need to wear a cone anymore. Hank continues to slowly gain weight and Charlie is becoming much more predictable. Some of these dogs have had a hard life and we want them to be relaxed and well socialized before they go to their forever homes. The nice thing about dogs is they almost always respond well to being treated well. If only people were this way.

I wonder how long it's going to be before I'm able to get the roof patched. This is usually the rainy season and from now through the end of the year it's going to be difficult for the roof to dry out enough to apply the coating before it rains again. Two days isn't enough time, especially when the weather is turning cooler. The roof was almost dry enough yesterday, but I knew it was going to rain today. Sure enough, the rain arrived right on schedule. All I can do is keep the pumps running when it rains and try to keep things as dry as possible. I knew this was coming. That's why I kept begging for the silicon product all Summer.

I took a shorter walk this morning because I knew we were going to visit the Dalmatians. I thought I'd continue my walk when we returned home, but it was raining by then. When the rain subsided to a gentle sprinkle, I decided to walk anyway. There really isn't much difference between being rained on and getting sweaty on a hot day. I didn't really need to walk this afternoon, but there wasn't much else to do. I'm addicted to the Fitbit steps as well. Given a choice, I'd much prefer being active to watching Netflix movies.

Tomorrow I'm going back to the dentist. I've grown tired of wearing the two broken halves of my old retainer every night so I'm going to have the dentist make me a new one. The retainer is supposed to keep my upper wisdom teeth from continuing to grow downward after I had the lower ones removed. Is this flimsy piece of plastic effective? Who knows.

I wish I didn't wake up tired all the time. I get plenty of sleep now, but I still hate to get out of bed in the morning. Maybe tomorrow will be different. Nah. Who am I kidding.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3569

I used to go for years without seeing the dentist. Now, I never miss an appointment. Every six months a dental hygienist cleans my teeth and once a year I get new x-rays and the dentist gives me an exam. I've always had good teeth, but it's not worth tempting fate anymore. Life is full of problems as it is. I don't need to add dental work to the list.

There were no problems today. The dentist thinks I'm doing a good job of taking care of my teeth. I use a Sonicare toothbrush and a Waterpik everyday and do my best to avoid sugar. The only thing that needed attention today was the retainer I wear at night. I broke it in half about a year ago and have just been wearing each half at night. The dentist said this was fine, but I think my teeth are shifting a bit. Getting a new retainer was more reasonable than I thought, so I'm going to go ahead and have them make me a new one.

There was no time for a morning walk today. As soon as I finished breakfast it was time to go to the dentist. This didn't mean I skipped the walk. It just meant I was outside during the hottest part of the day. Jeez. When are we going to get some Fall weather? It was really hot this afternoon. Temperature really does make a difference. These walks are much easier when it's cooler.

I can't figure out what is going on with the security light in the back yard. This weekend the light stayed on all night. Yesterday it didn't work at all. Now it's back on again. I've had this problem before and every time the light eventually seemed to fix itself. I'm hoping that it will start to work normally again. The light itself is inexpensive, but I always have to call an electrician when there is a problem. In theory I could easily install a new light myself, but it is located very near our power line and I'm clumsy at times. I don't want to get myself electrocuted. I'm trying to convince myself that it's easier to look at the stars at night when the yard is dark, but I like a little light coming in through the windows at night. Somehow it is easier to sleep when the security light is working.

I'm still eating leftover sandwiches from the golf tournament for dinner. If I'd thought to take a few more, I wouldn't have to go to the store at all this week. I ate the last sandwich tonight, but I doubt that I'll be very hungry tomorrow anyway. We're planning on going to the fair on Thursday. There's so much junk food at the fair that you seldom want to eat when you get home. You can get virtually anything deep fried on on a stick at the fair. I know it's not good for you but that's why the fair is only once a year. Whatever I eat tomorrow, there's a virtual certainty that it will give me heartburn.

I recharged my laptop batteries and applied a security patch this afternoon. With all the power outages we have around here, you never know when I'm going to need this thing. I used to ignore the security updates but you can't really do that anymore. Apple is no longer immune from hackers and malware. My laptop seems very slow, but that's probably just because it's old. I hate to retire this thing. It's the last laptop Apple made that came with a CD/DVD drive and full size USB ports. There's a slot for camera cards too. New laptops don't have any of this stuff.

Last year at this time, Dash was having seizures and I was getting nervous about an upcoming art auction in New York. That all seems so long time ago now. The only thing that hasn't changed are the telemarketing calls. We're still getting a ton of telemarketing calls.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3386

And just like that, Google+ was gone. I thought the last day was going to be today, but I guess it was actually yesterday. Everything I posted to Google+ over the years has simply disappeared. I was going to write a goodbye post like everybody else, encouraging people to follow me somewhere else. Too late now. I still think Google+ was the best social network. The whole idea of circles was so much better than friends or followers. I'm going to miss this place. It was definitely an idea worth keeping.

My teeth are still in good condition. The dental hygienist cleaned my teeth and I got new x-rays, but that was it. When I was younger I was lucky if I went to the dentist every ten years. Now I go every six months and do everything the dentist recommends. Eventually, you realize that you've only got one body and it's up to you to take care of it. Surprisingly, my dentist said it was just fine to continue wearing my broken Essix retainer. "It still fits perfectly," He told me as he inserted the left side and then the right side. I was worried that my teeth might have shifted, but the dentist said I was imagining things. "This retainer is a very tight fit," he told me. "If your teeth had shifted, you wouldn't be able to put it on." Works for me. I'm always happy when someone wants to save me a little money.

I got some bad news from the synthesizer repairman today. One of the Sequential Circuits synthesizers I've having restored can't be fixed. A critical custom voice chip is no longer available. Two of the three synthesizers are working perfectly now, but this one will only be good for parts. The technician has already spent a lot of time trying to repair this thing. I hate paying for something that will never work, but the technician has spent months working on these ancient analog synthesizers. He did the best he could. You win some. You lose some.

I wish Dash's appetite would return. He's gone through at least two episodes before where he was an extremely picky eater and it is always frustrating. In the past, his appetite has always returned after a few weeks. Hopefully, it will this time too. Usually by the end of the day we manage to get him to eat something. A lot of food gets wasted and he's still not eating enough. We're constantly changing things to find something he likes. It's hard to tell if this is a physical or a mental problem. We've got a vet appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning to examine his mouth. There's a good chance that his gum infection could be part of the problem.

When I was clearing out my spam folder on the mail server this afternoon, I became alarmed at the enormous amount of phishing attacks that were headed my way. I called tech support and asked if this was normal. "Sadly yes," the technician told me. "These people are relentless." I never could have predicted thirty years ago that most of the messages I receive would be attempts to scam me. My hosting company has an excellent spam filter and Nomorobo catches most of the telemarketing spam on my phone. It's still irritating though. You shouldn't have to feel like you're constantly under siege.

Hopefully we can get Dash's gingivitis under control when we visit the vet tomorrow. It would be so much easier if a dog's dental exam was as simple as the one I had today. When it became unsafe to anesthetize Dash for routine dental cleanings, his mouth began to go downhill. Maybe if we can find the right antibiotic we can still clear this problem up.

I'm still not getting enough sleep, but what else is new.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3385 - April Fool's Day

I went to Fry's to get some printer ink today. This used to be the place everybody went for anything related to technology. The store is a ghost town now. The aisles look like they haven't been restocked in months and there are usually only one or two people manning 45 empty check out registers. Most of the printer ink was gone. The few ink cartridges that remained seemed like they'd been sitting on the shelf for five years. Of course they didn't have the ink I was looking for. I really wonder how this store manages to stay open. It looks like I'll have to start buying all my ink online.

I had a lengthy work related conversation this afternoon. It's been a while. A former client and I were trying to figure out something we'd done five years ago. Google was finding html documents that we both thought had been erased long ago. Where were these files located and how could we get rid of them? We finally figured out how something had slipped through the cracks and were able to find the files on a server I thought wasn't even being used anymore. Hopefully, we erased the files correctly this time.

Dash is getting really picky about food again. This has happened before, but I thought we'd put this problem behind us since Dash has been eating well for quite a while now. It's been really hard to give him his meds this week and we've had to look for alternatives to his regular meals. He'll eat a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but you can tell he just isn't interested in food. Today he only ate about half of what he should be eating. This isn't good. Dash was losing weight even when he was eating well. I'm really hoping this is temporary. Maybe he just has an upset stomach. We've got a vet appointment scheduled for Wednesday. Maybe the vet can give us some suggestions.

I couldn't find my regular coffee this week, so I bought another brand that seemed similar. It tasted fine, but there is more caffeine than I like. My head has been buzzing today. I've also got heartburn from eating leftover pizza. None of this stuff used to bother me. It sucks getting old. I'm sure Dash would agree. Probably something similar is going on with his stomach. I wish he could tell me what is bothering him. If I knew, I'm almost certain it wouldn't be that hard to find something he would eat.

I've got a dental appointment tomorrow. In theory this is just a routine cleaning, but you never know when you go to the dentist. I guess I'll take the broken Essix retainer with me. I'm hoping they'll tell me that I don't need to wear this thing anymore, but probably they'll want me to come in next week so they can make new impressions.

The first bid to replace the roof came in today. A little higher than I expected. A lot higher actually. I think I bought my first house for less than these guys want to put on a new engineered roof. I wish I could fix the roof by buying a few cans of that Liquid Rubber in a Can that you see advertised on TV. Unfortunately nothing is ever that easy. Maybe the remaining bids will be more reasonable.

The roof can wait. All I want now is a good night's sleep. Are you listening Dash? I need you to cooperate.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3379

I learn something new everyday. I've been getting letters from my insurance provider urging me to switch to one of their 'preferred pharmacies' so I could save more on my prescription co-pays. I've been reluctant to switch, since I've been going to this pharmacy forever and I like the people there. Today I decided to see how much I would save if I switched. Would you believe nothing. Absolutely nothing. Insurance hasn't even been paying for my prescriptions since the retail price for these generic drugs is less than the co-pay. Evidently, if the retail price is less than the co-pay, you just pay the retail price and insurance pays nothing. All this time I've been thinking that my prescriptions were a lot more expensive than they actually were. I thought I was getting a bargain, but I was just paying retail.

So why do I even have Part-D coverage if the insurance is paying nothing? I guess the answer is pretty simple. It's insurance. When I was being treated for Hepatitis C, one of the drugs I was taking was horrendously expensive. A lot of cancer drugs are extremely expensive as well. As I was told today, you don't have Part-D coverage to pay for common Tier-1 medications. You have it so you don't get wiped out if your doctor prescribes some life saving but hugely expensive drug. Fair enough. I just never realized that I'd been paying retail for my pills. I guess I could save a little by switching to a mail order pharmacy, but it isn't worth the trouble. I'll just leave things alone.

My taxes are ready to submit. I was still confused why I owed more than I did during my peak earning years, so I called my accountant again. I'd glad he's a patient guy. To make a long story short, social security payments, plus required IRA distributions, plus the art sales and the fact that I had nothing withheld this year put me in a higher bracket than I was before. "You're doing OK," the accountant told me. "Then why do I feel so poor," I asked?

Dash continues to seem a little stronger on his walks while simultaneously appearing a little weaker around the house. I would think he'd be stronger around the house but tire quickly on walks, but the opposite is happening. I'm just glad that he's still interested in something. Dash still seems to love his daily walks. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to love the special food we've been cooking for him anymore. Why? This special stew is so good that I could eat it myself. Dash has gone back to preferring dog food though. Go figure.

My dentist called today to remind me of an upcoming appointment. I need to remember to ask him if I need a new Essix retainer. My old retainer broke in half a few months ago, so it is basically worthless. I'm hoping that the dentist will say I don't need the retainer anymore, but I imagine he'll recommend fitting me for a new one. Dentists never recommend less dental care. Maybe I do need the retainer. My teeth seem to be shifting a little. I wonder if old people ever need orthodontia? I'd feel weird wearing braces at my age.

I'm hoping that Dash will let me sleep tonight. We didn't do so well last night. I'm probably doomed to feeling perpetually tired.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3273

I sent out a few SOS messages about the roof this morning, but didn't receive much of a response. Eventually, the roofer did send me a short message saying that I was still on their list, but that they were way behind schedule. This wasn't very encouraging. I did some research on products that I could use to make emergency repairs and discovered that most of them weren't compatible with the elastomer coating. I'm not sure how much good a patch would do anyway, since water has already gotten under the coating. Some of the commonly available wet patch materials are not meant to be applied in cold weather anyway.

I renewed one of my domains that was going to expire at the end of the week. I don't use this domain, but it was easier to just renew it for another year than to make a decision about dropping it. Maybe I'll use the domain next year. Jeez. Who am I kidding. I'm never going to use this domain.

Pretty soon I'll need to make a similar decision about whether to renew my subscriptions for Pro Tools and Avid Media Composer. I don't use these products either, but it's nice having them around. At some point I need to start being realistic. It's very doubtful that I'm going to be asked to do any complicated video editing again. I'm retired. I don't need business software anymore.

Dash was not very steady on his feet today. He stumbled and fell several times and I had difficulty getting him upright again. He struggles whenever I try to lift him up which makes the whole process more difficult. I try to tell him that we need to work as a team, but he's not getting the picture. I wish Dash knew his limitations and would be more careful. That's not his style. He keeps trying to do all the things he used to do, but he's not very successful anymore.

I'm running out of time to buy Christmas gifts. Pretty soon I'm going to have to check the more expensive shipping option on Amazon. What did I do before Amazon? I can't imagine shopping at a mall anymore. Just finding a parking place at this time of year is a nightmare.

I still haven't called the dentist about getting a new retainer made. Teeth grow slowly don't they? I wonder how long I can postpone this chore. I might have to call my doctor and ask him to refer me for endoscopy. Is this more important than a retainer? My heartburn problems seem to be getting worse. I wonder if my recurring reflux problems are caused by the food I'm eating, or stress? My diet hasn't really changed, but my stress levels have. Dash's deteriorating health and the crumbling house are hard to ignore.

At least the weather is nice. I've got a little time before there is any rain on the horizon. I may drive over to a professional roofing supply company in a neighboring town tomorrow and see if they have some sort of miracle repair product I can use. I may need it. The real miracle would be if the roofers actually appeared on my doorstep before the next rain.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3266

We went to a Christmas party this evening. It's exceedingly rare for me to go to any sort of party these days, especially a semi-formal one. This was the first time I'd worn a suit in well over a year. I'm always amazed that my old dress clothes still fit. I didn't know many people at this party, but Janet did. The food was delicious and I even had a glass of wine. Although I'm definitely not a party person anymore, I'll have to admit that I had a good time.

This was a very busy day. All the photo equipment we used during the Santa Paws events has been stored away. The heavy stuff is back at the storage warehouse and everything else is ready to gather dust in the office for another year. There were lots of other errands as well. I went to the bank, got groceries, picked up meds for Dash, and filled the car with gas. Not surprisingly, I thought it was Saturday for a while.

Dash got me up again last night. He seems to be sleeping longer this week. Getting up at 5 AM isn't nearly as bad as getting up at 3 AM. This morning, Dash managed to make it to the back door and pooped in the yard like a normal dog. There was no mess to clean up. I celebrated by going back to sleep for two more hours.

Getting enough sleep made a big difference today. Now, I consider anything over five hours a bonus. It would be nice if I was able to get a good night's sleep two nights in a row, but that hasn't happened in a while. We'll see what happens. So far today, Dash has been acting surprisingly normal.

I broke the Essix retainer I wear to bed yesterday, so it looks like I'll need to get my dentist to make me another one.  When I had an impacted wisdom tooth pulled several years ago, the dentist told me that I would need to wear the retainer to prevent the remaining upper wisdom tooth from growing downward. I was surprised at how long the thin plastic retainer lasted, but nothing lasts forever. I'm hoping that the dentist will tell me that I don't need the thing anymore, but that's not very likely. I'll probably be sitting in the chair getting impressions made sometime next week.

The weather has gotten cold again. The temperature bounces around so much now that I never know what to wear. Just looking out the window isn't enough anymore. Neither is remembering what the weather was like yesterday. If I dressed like I did yesterday I would have frozen today. Luckily, I have a coat for every occasion.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow. Truthfully, I don't have any plans for the rest of the year. I just hope Dash stays healthy, I stay warm, and nothing gives me heartburn.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1987

I'm running out of ways to describe a rainy day. Rain has become the new normal. Once again it was raining when we woke up and the dogs had to wait for their morning walk. We ate breakfast while waiting for the skies to clear and kept checking the weather radar until we found our opportunity. The ground is so saturated with water that everything is soft and spongy. Dot and Dash normally like to smell things in the grass, but even they prefer walking on the roads lately. It's amazing how green and lush the park looks this Spring. All the neighbors lawns look great and Spring flowers are blooming everywhere. I imagine that water bills all over the city will be lower this month.I haven't seen anyone using their sprinkler system all month. I was amused listening to an interview with a local car wash owner on TV this morning. He said that business was way down and that only ten people had washed their car today. I kept wondering how even ten people could think it would be a good idea to take their car to a carwash on a day like this.

I'm easily amused on a rainy day, so I spent the afternoon trying out all the attachments on the new Dyson vacuum cleaner. I had already vacuumed the office yesterday and was astounded to pick up just as much dust as I did yesterday in the supposedly clean office when I vacuumed the shelves and hard to reach corners with the special attachments. The shelves above eye level were exceptionally dusty, but luckily the clever Dyson people made a special tool to clean areas about your head that you can't see. The best thing about the Dyson is that it is relatively quiet and it doesn't scare the dogs. Our old Hoover always sent them into a panic, but they both just ignored me while I was cleaning today.

I keep thinking of ways to improve the mobile sites I'm building, so I went back and fixed some mistakes I'd made earlier in the week. I'm definitely a late bloomer when it comes to responsive design, but I'm starting to get enthusiastic about the possibilities it presents. As I continue to become more familiar with CSS and structured HTML, I doubt that I'll ever build a static site in Dreamweaver again.

I've started wearing a plastic Essix retainer at night that one of my dentists created for me just before I had my wisdom tooth removed. Since some of my upper teeth are unopposed by lower teeth anymore, this retainer is supposed to keep the upper teeth from continuing to grow downward. I thought only rodents had teeth that continued to grow, but apparently ours do as well if they are not held in check by another tooth directly above or below. I thought I'd hate the retainer, but it is strangely comforting. It fits perfectly and is not unpleasant to wear at all. Putting it on, taking it off, and cleaning it, will add one more element to an already lengthy  set of morning rituals.

The rain finally stopped around 6:30 PM. There was just enough time to give Dot and Dash their evening walks and take a quick photo of a surprisingly beautiful sunset. There will be more rain tomorrow, but we're getting used to it.

Ranger s today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1862

Dot sailed through today's cancer re-check with flying colors. Her oncologist was delighted with her progress and told me that she was amazed at how much stronger Dot had become since her last visit. Since Dot's ultrasound imaging showed nothing abnormal and all her vital signs were excellent, she's good to go for an other three months. We'll probably have to continue these periodic re-checks for the rest of her life, but as long as Dot stays healthy, that's fine.

While Dot was getting her sonogram, I had my own medical issues to deal with. Today's trip to the dentist was primarily to fit the Essix retainer the dentist made for me last month. I have to wear the retainer at night after my wisdom teeth have been extracted, so the upper teeth won't continue to grow downward to fill the gap. I like this dentist because he is so careful and methodical and convinced him to coordinate my treatment with the other two dentists. I want to make sure that everyone's on the same page. It's driving me nuts to have one dentist tell me that I'll need a bone graft if I have implants, while another dentist tells me this is unnecessary. I'd like all three dentists to agree on whether a tooth can be saved too. It's a little late once the tooth has been removed.

I don't know if I'm ever going to get caught up with work. There are upcoming video production projects, photo shoots, writing assignments, and website designs that all have to be completed before the end of February. I would be a lot happier with all this work if I was making any money. Budgets  have dwindled to the point where they are laughable. If anyone had told me in 1990 that I would be doing exactly the same thing 25 years later for half as much money, I would never have believed them. That's what it's come to though. In a world where even accountants and plumbers are creating elaborate YouTube videos, what I do isn't valued as much as it used to be.

I went to an animal rescue meeting after I walked the dogs this evening. I used to go to this 6 PM meeting every month, but the rush hour traffic in front of my house gradually got worse and worse until it was almost impossible to get out of the driveway. I've pretty much given up on getting out of the driveway at 6 PM, but I thought I'd give it a try tonight just for old time's sake. Not surprisingly, the traffic was worse than ever. I still think all meetings should be at 10:30 AM or 2:30 PM, unless there is breakfast and bacon involved.

I have my last physical therapy session tomorrow. It will be a lot harder to do the exercises without the therapist insisting that I do them correctly.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day