Day 1538

Unbelievable! Yesterday it was 81 degrees. I was wearing shorts and we had the air conditioner on. Today, it is twenty degrees, there is a fierce wind, and it is sleeting outside. Only in Texas. I'm beginning to wonder if I just imagined yesterday. It is so cold that even the normally cold blooded Dot refuses to go outside. I don't blame her. I don't want to go outside either.

When I discovered what the weather was like, I immediately scrapped my plans to go to the gym today. There is little point in going to the gym if you end up wrecking your car on an icy road afterwards. The only time I even got near the car today was to start it up in the driveway to make sure the battery still worked. I'm once burned, twice shy about batteries and cold weather. They've let me down before and probably will again.

I'm glad I picked up that DVD of "Gravity" yesterday, because watching an Oscar nominated movie inside a warm house sounds a lot more appealing than anything I might have been doing outside. I really liked the movie, although I probably would have liked it even more if I'd taken the trouble to drive to a nearby 3-D theater and see it on a big screen. I can see why the special effects took over three years to create. They were simply spectacular. After a while I forgot I was looking at special effects. It just looked like someone had filmed the whole thing in space. Alfonso Cuarón deserves major kudos for pulling off an extremely ambitious production. Even Buzz Aldrin was impressed, and he's been to the moon. At any rate, watching this movie, while Janet cooked some savory smelling pork chops in the slow cooker and the dogs curled up for a nap on their dog beds, seemed like a good way to spend a very cold day.

I guess I hadn't realized that the Oscars had become an all day television event. The red carpet fashion shows seemed to begin around noon and the actual ceremony is still going on. If this show is anything like last year, it will still be still be going on long after I go to bed. I guess I don't really care who wins, or I'd be watching the show instead of writing this blog post. Ellen is pretty good as a host though. Maybe I just like snarky humor.

I hope the weather improves tomorrow. I've got a lot to do and I doubt that I'll be able to get away with staying inside all day. Jeez, when is this crazy weather going to finally run its course? I'm ready for Spring. Just like I expected, all the early blooming daffodils and flowering dogwoods are frozen now. An early Spring really doesn't mean much if it is immediately followed by a late freeze.

Despite the terrible weather, there is still a lot to be thankful for. Dash's recovery has been remarkable. The furnace works great this year, and the house is actually warm. I've already received my assignments for tomorrow, so there's be plenty to do, whether I get outside or not. I wish that damn redbird would quit pooping on my car though. It's driving me nuts.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1537

I used to be really good at fixing things around the house. Apparently Elvis has left the building when it comes to home improvements. I suck at fixing things now. My heart just isn't in it anymore. I measured the can lights in the bathroom and went to Home Depot to find a replacement for the blinking light that's driving me nuts. Can lights have changed a lot over the years. Not only couldn't I find anything that looked remotely like the light in my ceiling, I couldn't even figure out how to install the new lights I was looking at in the store. So much for electrical work, I thought. I'll just paint instead. I got some painting supplies and went home to repair some of the window trim that this Winter's excessive condensation had ruined.

As soon as I got home, Janet went off to run her errands. We're trying to alternate being out of the house, so someone will always be around to keep an eye on Dash. So far, Dash is being an excellent patient. Unlike some dogs, he hasn't tried to pick or scratch at his stitches at all. For the most part, he just slept while I attempted to paint. The trouble with painting trim is that you have to sand off all the old paint before you can begin. I scraped and sanded off five layers of paint before I reached raw wood. That's probably about right for a 60 year old house. It took me most of the afternoon to prep one little window. The more I sanded, the more I realized that I never liked painting in the first place. I finally primed everything, cleaned up the paint I'd spilled and put my tools away. We'll finish this job later. Perhaps in June.

It got so warm this afternoon that we had to turn the air conditioner on. Amazingly, it worked like a charm. I remember many warm Spring days like this when I flipped the switch for the first time and nothing happened. The HVAC system is one of the few reliable things left in the house these days. The furnace and the air conditioner are both relatively new and the were installed by people who actually knew what they were doing, in contrast to the idiots who put the can lights in my bathroom ceiling. These lights were part of a remodeling project and were never as good as the original lights that came with the house. The original 60 year old ceiling lights were built like a tank and every single component was replaceable. I've taken them apart many times over the years to replace aging sockets and wiring. There is absolutely nothing that is replaceable on the newer bathroom lights.

I finished yesterday's writing assignment and sent it on its way. Luckily, I can still write a lot better than I can paint. I'd never make much of a living as a house painter. By the time I got my writing done, cleaned the sheets, made the bed, and vacuumed up the mess from my home improvement efforts, it was time to give the dogs their evening walk. Dash is still taking a much shorter walk until he is off the pain medications. I have to trick him into coming home early by walking in a circle. He won't turn around and come home if he's not ready, but apparently he doesn't even realize we are returning home if I chart our course in an extended circle. Whatever works is my motto. On a good day, I can still outsmart a dog.

Unfortunately we won't be able to go to the dog park tomorrow. It might be a long time before Dash is ready to go to the dog park again. In anticipation of another housebound day, I bought a copy of "Gravity" while I was out-and-about this morning. It probably won't be as impressive on my computer as it would be in a large 3-D theater, but at least I'll finally get to see it.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1473

When I saw some aggressive dogs ahead on our morning walk, I quickly changed direction and picked an alternate route. This was fortunate for the dogs, but not so good for me. The new trail was filled with fresh horse poop, which Dash devoured at every opportunity, and lots of mud. I cleaned the mud off the dogs paws when I returned home, but I really wished I could have cleaned Dash inside and out. I don't know how Dash acquired his taste for horse poop, but it's fairly disgusting.

With the morning walk out of the way, I was off to my favorite restaurant for my perennial Friday favorite: two poached eggs served over a bed of pulled pork, peppers, and hash browned potatoes. Yes, it was another completely normal Friday.

After a leisurely breakfast, I picked up some groceries for the weekend, filled the car with gas, and settled down to another day of writing and website work. I often wonder why I stay so busy while doing stuff that really doesn't matter. I guess it must matter to somebody. I'm not exactly setting the world on fire here, but I am paying the bills. When I look at my Google+ stream, I'm humbled by all the people I see doing truly remarkable things. Of course, all I have to do is look at Facebook to realize that I'm actually still doing pretty well.

It's getting harder and harder to walk Dot and Dash together. Dot likes a sedate walk on level ground where she doesn't have to worry about falling or stumbling. Dash loves to race up hills, chase rabbits, and be as disruptive as he possible can. There's nothing wrong with either type of behavior. It's just hard for an old dog and a young dog to agree on things. It's my job to find a middle ground that will keep both of these dogs happy. I figure if I can do this, I can do almost anything.

With Janet away, I'm having a very difficult time telling one day from another. Her very predictable rituals always gave me a clue about what was going to happen next. The dogs don't care what day it is. To them, and increasingly to me, the weekdays and the weekends are all the same. I've got to be careful here, or I could easily end up working straight through the weekend and accidentally squander my two days of rest. My work is so amorphous that I sometime have difficulties telling the difference between work and leisure as well. Am I working all the time, or never working at all? I guess it all depends on your point of view.

I was thinking about going to see Gravity tomorrow in 3-D at a local iMax theater. The nearest iMax theater seems a bit too far away though, so I'll probably just wait until Gravity comes out on DVD in February. I'm not in much of a hurry about anything these days.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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