Day 2077

I thought I'd fix an old aluminum colander today. This colander was so old that it must have belonged to my Mom. Or maybe it belonged to Janet's Mom. One of the legs had fallen off and Janet was going to throw the thing away. "I can fix that," I said. This was about a month ago actually. Men aren't generally that quick about fixing things. I thought it would be easy to rivet the leg back on the bowl of the colander using my rivet gun. I hadn't used the rivet gun in years, so the first problem was finding it. After searching in all the logical places, I finally found the tool in an illogical place. It made sense that I would store the rivets with the tool, but of course I didn't. It took me another thirty minutes to find a supply of aluminum rivets. I got ready to attach the leg and realized that the broken old rivets were still attached. I would have to drill them out. The batteries on my electric drill were dead, but I managed to find an old AC powered drill of my Dad's. The drill didn't have a chuck though, so I couldn't attach a drill bit. I finally managed to pull the old rivet out of the hole with a pair of pliers. The first time I tried to rivet the leg to the bowl, I forgot to place a washer on the back side of the rivet and it fell out of the hole. Finally, I got things right. Two hours after I started, I had a successful repair. I wonder why I thought that fixing the colander would only take me ten minutes?

Fixing things around the house always takes me a long time. The whole process is kind of like household archaeology. I have to sift through layers and layers of stuff to find the tools I need. We ran out of space so long ago that stuff is just piled on top of other stuff. If a tool is buried under too many layers, it is often easier to just drive to Home Depot and buy another one. The rivet gun was buried under layers of painting supplies, which were in turn covered up by three folding tables that Janet and I used to use at Dalmatian Rescue events. Long before I found the rivet gun, a bunch of wasps found me. They has been building a nest a few feet over my head. I didn't get stung, but the wasps did make me work faster. I often wonder why I embark on projects like this. I could have gone to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up a brand new colander for just a few bucks. The old aluminum utensil didn't even have much sentimental value. I guess I feel compelled to fix things.

I hope going to the gym on Sunday is beneficial because I could certainly think of better things to do with my time. I've been pretty faithful about my weekend workouts, but I still don't see the fascination with exercise that many people have. Every morning when we walk the dogs, we pass dozens of cyclists and joggers who are up just as early as we are. I'm up because I know that Dot and Dash really need these walks. I wonder why these other guys are up so early?  If I had a choice, I would just sleep in an extra hour. I did go to the gym today though. And then I ate cake when I got home.

The TV went out again this evening, and since I couldn't get things to work on my own, I called U-Verse tech support for help. After answering the usual laundry last of questions, the technician suggested that I disconnect the HDMI cable from the TV and plug it back in back to front. "Why would this make a difference," I thought? I dutifully took the TV end of the cable and plugged it into the U-Verse receiver and took the receiver end and plugged it into the TV. It worked! Since nothing was wrong with the cable in the first place, I wondered why flipping it back to front brought the picture back. The technician didn't know. "Sometimes this just gets the signal flowing again," he said.

The calendar looks pretty empty next week. Dot does have a birthday on Thursday though. We'll have to do something special.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2061

I think we've got a plan for Dot now. She had an ultrasound scan of her abdomen today and the tumor has not grown any further. Her blood work still looks good as well. This is very good news. Dot's oncologist thinks it will be safe for us to discontinue her Palladia treatment for two weeks to see if this is what is causing the weakness in her rear legs. It is entirely possible that the lameness has nothing to do with Dot's chemotherapy, but since muscle weakness in a well documented side effect of Palladia, it would be good to know if this is what is causing the problem.

If discontinuing the Palladia makes no difference and Dot still continues to get weaker, we will assume the problem is neurological in nature and resume the chemotherapy. If she shows any sign of improvement, we will postpone the chemotherapy for an additional two weeks and then do another ultrasound scan. This way, we will learn two important things. We will know whether the Palladia is causing the muscle weakness and we will see if the tumor starts to grow again after being off chemotherapy for a full month. At that point we will have to decide whether to resume the chemotherapy for an extended length of time. The best case scenario would be if Dot's leg gets stronger without the Palladia and the tumor still does not grow any bigger. If this happens, maybe we just discontinue chemo entirely and monitor her condition every three months with an ultrasound scan.

When we left the cancer center today, the thermometer in the car said 118 degrees. I'm sure it wasn't really this hot, since the thermometer was picking up heat from the car itself. Once we got moving, the temperature went down to 106. That was probably closer to the real temperature. Either way, it was way too hot. Dot was happy to get home again where the air conditioner was keeping things comfortable. When the car sits out in the sun for any length of time, it takes most of the journey home just to get it cool again. At least Dot is riding better in the car now. I think I have finally learned how to get her situated so she doesn't slide around whenever I go around a corner.

The field monitor for my video camera finally arrived today. I discovered that every single device I want to use the monitor with requires a different type of HDMI cable. I didn't even know there were three distinct flavors of HDMI. I need a micro HDMI connector for the miniature cameras, a mini HDMI connector for the DSLR camera, and a regular cable for the video camera. This will require another trip to Fry's or Best Buy. All the cables I currently have are already attached to the TV.

When I was eating breakfast this morning, I was surprised to see that I was the only customer in the restaurant at one point. Often this place is so crowded that it's hard to find a table. Of all the people who come here, I seem to be the only one who is relentlessly consistent. I always arrive at the same time, order the same thing, and sit at the same table. There are lots of other regulars, but their schedules seem to vary. There are hundreds of reasons by people's plans change, but I still value consistency. I've always been a good observer.  When you look at the same things over and over again, you start to notice nuances and small details that other people miss. I can tell who cooked my breakfast now. Some of the cooks use more salt on the potatoes, others garnish the dish with extra cheese, or cook the Chorizo a little longer. I used to think the coffee was all the same, but now I can tell if they are using Ethiopian or Sumatran beans. These little things keep breakfast interesting.

I'm not sure what I'll do this weekend. Janet and I need to find time to photograph some new Dalmatians that have entered the rescue program. The house definitely needs to be cleaned. The hotter it gets, the more I'm craving an ice cold beer. I still can't bring myself to drink alcohol again though. The discipline I acquired when I was fighting Hepatitis C is apparently going to stay with me for life.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1964

I picked up one of those Chromecast sticks that plugs into your TV while I was out this afternoon. Now, all three HDMI ports on the back of the TV are filled with little devices that bypass cable. I never use the Roku and Hulu steaming sticks, so it is doubtful that I'll use Chromecast much either. I guess I just got the thing because it was on sale and I was curious whether it worked or not. Yup. Works like a charm. I'm fascinated by technology. I just don't watch TV very much. I was happy enough with my old analog TV that only got 13 Channels. Unfortunately, all the TV stations switched to digital broadcasting a few years ago and turned the thing into a door stop. Jeez, who needs 250 Channels? I mostly just watch old black and white Perry Mason shows to help me go to sleep at night anyway. Ironically, Janet would probably like Chromecast, but wouldn't have the patience to install the companion software on her computer and learn how to use the thing. I have lots of patience. I just don't understand the whole concept of entertainment. I could go for months without even turning a TV on.

I didn't really realize that eating would be such a problem when I had my oral surgery. Dislodging all the little food particles in my mouth after a meal takes longer than it took to eat the meal in the first place. I'm supposed to swish warm salt water around in my mouth to remove food debris, but it takes forever. According to my post-surgery instructions I still can't brush with a toothbrush or use a water pic. Somehow, my remaining teeth have become more sensitive to hot and cold too. It just makes me want to eat nothing but custard or Jello.

I really didn't do much today. I got groceries, filled the car with gas, refilled prescriptions, did some laundry and changed the sheets on the bed. I do most of these things every Saturday. It took a while for me to figure out how to install the Chromecast stick, but once I got it working properly, I just turned off the TV. No need to actually watch anything. Taking a nap with the dogs seemed like a much better alternative.

I'm glad I got the water off the roof yesterday, because it was too hot to go up there today. In the Summer, I have to wear gloves, because some of the surfaces become too hot to touch. The only good thing about the Summer heat is that after a light rain in July or August, the standing water just evaporates and I don't have to bother with sweeping it away.

I'm hungry for French Toast. It's tasty and easy to chew. French Toast for breakfast tomorrow sounds delicious. Unfortunately, I'm not eating bread anymore. I don't completely remember why, but I quit eating bread quite a while ago. It probably has something to do with avoiding diabetes. Bread is high in carbs and can spike blood sugar levels. Bread just isn't that good for you. It is very tasty, but blocks that absorption of other nutrients, contributes to vitamin-d deficiency, and quickly turns to sugar in your body. What a shame. Bread tastes to good.

Maybe I'll go to the gym tomorrow. I think I'm caught up on Sunday chores. I need to go to the gm more often, but I'd rather work on adding some new features to my mobile friendly test site. Learning something new is much more entertaining to me than watching a movie using the Chromecast stick. Going to the gym isn't entertaining at all, although I do like shooting the basketball. I'll probably just take another nap with the dogs.

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1314

I helped Janet get her laptop ready for making a presentation on a big flat panel TV and was a bit surprised that I'd never tried to hook up a laptop to our TV before. I guess that just shows you how important presentations are to me these days. I don't think I've made a formal presentation or even shown my portfolio to anyone in almost ten years. Hey, if you don't already know what I do, it's probably a little late to show you now.

Hooking up the Macbook Pro to the TV was much easier than I thought it would be. I went to Fry's and got a Mini DisplayPort adapter and some HDMI cables. I hooked the computer up to the TV, set the computer screen to mirror mode and all of the sudden I had a huge image of the computer screen on the TV.

It's to bad that it wasn't this easy to figure out why the garbage disposal isn't working. I'm going to have to leave that task to an appliance repairman who will hopefully come out and fix things very soon. A garbage disposal doesn't seem like a very essential appliance until you've got a non-working one still hooked up to your plumbing. I'm discovering that the sink clogs up very quickly when the garbage disposal isn't doing its job.

Dot and Dash really enjoyed their trip to the dog park today. Dash saw a dog that he recognized and liked and proceeded to race around the park showing his friend how fast he was. Dot took advantage of the mild weather to sniff every tree in the park. She seemed to have more energy today than she usually does.

I wish I had more energy than I usually do. Mowing the grass today was tiring. I think I've reached some sort of plateau with my new diet and exercise regime. I saw dramatic incremental improvements for a while, but now not so much. I think from now on out, it's going to take a lot more effort to continue losing weight while I'm building my strength and adding muscle mass. I probably don't actually need to lose any more weight, but I do need to keep working on building my strength.

I had a terrible dream last night. I frequently have dreams about being lost as I futilely try to find my way back to the dream's starting point. In last night's dream, not only was I lost, I also seemed to have lost my luggage and all my money. When I was young, I found myself lost in caves a lot during these types of dreams. Now I'm usually lost in labyrinth-like hotels. I guess that's an improvement of sorts.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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