Day 3274

Another long day. Dash continues to lose control of his bodily functions. It didn't surprise me that he pooped while he was sleeping last night. It did surprise me that he peed on the bed when he was trying to get up. Oops. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Urinary incontinence is even messier than all the poop we've been dealing with lately. If this continues, we may have to try putting Dash on Incurin like we did with Dot. Until we make that decision we brought home a large plastic sheet that was waiting in the storage warehouse just in case we needed it again. A plastic sheet isn't a perfect solution, but it sure beats spending all day doing laundry.

Dash seem totally unaware of what a high maintenance dog he's become. I guess that's a good thing. Although you could knock him over with a feather, he still enjoys stumbling along on his daily walks. He loves the special meals we cook for him now, although a lot of what he eats just falls out of his mouth. Along with many other neurological problems, he's starting to have trouble chewing. I don't think there is a cure for the incontinence at this point. We just have to learn to deal with it.

Amazingly, I did get some replies to the enquiries about the house I sent out yesterday. A few people I trust recommended contractors and repair people. I'll give these companies a call and see what they suggest. Although the roofer told me he is too busy to make repairs right now, he did say he'd drop off a bucket of the elastomer coating so I could make some emergency repairs myself. Hey, that's better than nothing. If this guy is true to form, he'll drop the stuff off on a rainy day after the leak has started again.

I did some research on the Internet and found some special extra wide construction tape that was supposed to bond instantly with anything and provide a quick and permanent waterproof seal. The stuff was called APOC Incredible Tape. It sounded perfect for my needs. I called the commercial roofing supply company to see if I could buy some this afternoon and they'd never heard of the stuff. This happens to me again and again. Doesn't anyone else know how to use Google?

I ordered a few Christmas gifts on Amazon.com today. Now I can check one more thing off my 2018 to-do list. It is so easy to order on Amazon that it's hard to believe I ever shopped any other way. Amazon even keeps a list if what I bought for people in previous years so I don't inadvertently order the same thing twice. This is a great feature because I could easily order the same thing twice. My memory is a sieve.

Now that Janet has fully retired it's become a lot harder to remember what day it is. It certainly didn't seem like Tuesday today. Basically all days are more or less the same. Poop gets cleaned up. Wash gets done. Fruit smoothies get consumed. Dash gets walked. The blog gets written. And I fall asleep watching Perry Mason. Tomorrow will be different though. It will be Wednesday.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2601

I was seated near a couple of writers at breakfast this morning. It appeared that these guys had agents and publishers and had written several books each. They weren't happy though. As I ate, I listened to them loudly complain about how they were being ignored by their publishers, weren't receiving their royalties, and were being plagiarized by their peers. I felt like asking them why they didn't just go into advertising if they felt so miserable about their profession. I kept my mouth shut though, because I knew this idea would have been met with disdain. You could tell these guys both thought they were "real" writers. I guess everyone who has a way with words thinks about writing a novel, but I have few regrets about choosing to write jingles for commercials when I was the age of the two complainers sitting next to me. Writing advertising has actually been fun. Writing a novel that nobody wanted to publish probably wouldn't have been fun at all.

Dot has started peeing in her sleep again. We lowered her Incurin dose last week like we were told to do, but apparently only the highest dose has any effect on her. This isn't good. I'm going to call Dot's vet and see what she thinks, but I can't imagine keeping her on the initial loading dose forever would be a good idea. It's sad to watch Dot deteriorate. It was sad to watch my Mom and Dad deteriorate too. Aging is relentless and more than a bit cruel. I'm amazed that Dot still seems happy, but it sure would be nice if her body would cooperate a little more.

I had to re-do parts of the website I updated yesterday because I didn't do a good enough job proofreading. It's weird. These days I have all the time in the world to do a job properly and I still make mistakes. I often don't see my own mistakes until somebody else points them out to me, and then they're embarrassingly obvious. I'd like to think I'm still as sharp as I was in my 30's, but the truth is that I'm operating with a few less brain cells. Familiar problems are still easy to deal with, but don't ask me to solve a calculus problem or learn a new language. Those days are over.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. Probably nobody would care if I just let it grow, but long, wispy white hair doesn't look good on anyone. I tried to make the appointment during a time when Dot is usually asleep, but it would be just like her to surprise me. Oh, well. I won't be gone that long. The need to get back home in a hurry will keep me from visiting the Apple store and spending money on something I don't need. The Apple store is near where I get my hair cut and it is always tempting.

I'm already starting to get mail with "important tax information" stamped on the envelope. It's hard to believe that tax season is just around the corner. I save all these letters in a big manila envelope but I seldom read them. Taxes have become so complicated that I don't even attempt to understand them anymore. I just hand the envelope to my accountant in early April and hope for the best.

It's time to buy more puppy training pads for Dot. I buy these things by the case at Sam's Club now. Five years ago I never would have dreamed that there would come a time when my life would be centered around pee and poop, but life is full of surprises. I think we've all seen that lately.
 

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2596

I was working out today and was surprised to notice that I had a three inch gash on my right leg. Where did that come from? You'd think I'd notice a cut like that, but I have no idea where it came from. I didn't even notice until I was doing some cardio work that got my heart rate up. With my blood pumping faster the cut stung a little, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. I don't remember dropping anything on my leg or bumping into anything sharp. The cut just seemed to appear out of nowhere. I mentioned this to Janet when I got home and she said it happens to her all the time. I guess the older you get, the more you bump into things. Dot still has a mysterious cut on her leg too. Dot falls so much that she needs a coat made out of bubble wrap. I'm going to start falling too if I don't get to the gym more often. I'm not a person who makes goals, but I really need to figure out how to go to the gym at least three times a week.

On my way home today, I stopped at an Office Depot store to get a monthly accordion folder for my 2017 receipts. I do this every year, even though my accountant told me that he never actually looks at the receipts when I bring him the folder at tax time. I don't go to office supply stores very often and I was surprised at how empty the place was. Half the store was bare with nothing in it at all. The same thing seems to be happening when I go to the local Fry's Electronics store. I think retail is dead. It's just so easy to order anything you need online. I think in five or ten years most of the traditional big box stores will be gone. It's a shame that this transformation has been so complete. I used to like shopping. Small independent camera stores were great places to talk shop and learn things from the shopkeeper and other photographers. There were lots of weird little stores that couldn't even exist today. Two of my favorite stores when I first moved to Dallas sold nothing but electric trains.

I actually threw some things away today. This is almost unheard of for me. When I moved the garment rack to my office yesterday, there were a few things that wouldn't fit after I reconfigured the room. A cheap Ikea shelf that I'd been meaning to toss for years had to go, along with a bunch of old magazines, catalogs, and books. Admittedly, you could hardly call this downsizing, but at least it's a start. I need to do this again sometime. When I look around the office, I hardly see anything I actually use anymore. Most of the stuff is here just for the nostalgia value.

We've reached the point where we need to start decreasing Dot's Incurin dose. Starting today, she only gets half as much as she's been getting for the past two weeks. It makes me a little nervous that her incontinence hasn't been completely cured. There's been a definite improvement, but it wasn't like the first time we tried this treatment two years ago. I'm going to have to talk with Dot's vet, but I have a feeling that she's going to end up being on a much higher maintenance dose than she was before.

Is the political infighting and acrimony ever going to end? I'm getting sick of it. It's almost like we're engaged in a lazy man's civil war. In this new age civil war, we don't battle over territory. We just say nasty things about each other on Facebook and then go home to a nice dinner and a movie on Netflix. I don't think anything will get fixed this way, but what do I know. I'm just a guy who would like to take a time machine back to 1955.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2586

I discovered something today. I like rice noodles better than wheat noodles, but whenever I order something online from Pei Wei, there is only a single item on the menu made with rice noodles. Hey, I like Pad Thai, but it always seemed to me that some of the other dinners would taste good with rice noodles too. Today, instead of ordering online, I called the restaurant and asked if I could substitute rice noodles for wheat noodles. "Sure," the guy told me. "You can substitute anything you want." "But it's not an option on the website," I said. Well, yes," the guy told me, "but you can still do it. Do you want to order something right now?" Such a simple solution. Once again, the old fashioned telephone proved to be a better solution than the latest technology.

I think people have forgotten that conversation can solve a myriad of problems. When I have a tech support problem, I always call someone on the phone. Those chat windows that appear on your browser never seem to provide the solution I need. e-mail is frustrating too. You just spend a lot of time typing. Text messages are even worse. I hate it when someone sends me a two word text message and I have to spent ten minutes composing a multi-paragraph reply on a tiny phone keyboard. I don't understand why people don't like the telephone anymore. When the answer is anything other than yes or no, you still need to talk with someone.

I'm kind of a paradox. The telephone is still my preferred method of communication, but I rarely answer my phone. I used to always answer the phone until telemarketers spoiled everything. Now, there's a 98% chance you'll be talking to a telemarketer if you don't recognize the number on your caller ID. The phone is a one way device for me. I only use it for outbound calls. Even outbound calls can test my patience. I hate waiting while listening to a recorded message saying "please stay on the line for the next available agent."

Maybe when you reach the "get off my lawn" stage of life, everything becomes a frustration. I've certainly noticed that more things irritate me than they used to. I was such an easy going person for most of my life and now every day is a series of irritating events. Today, I was furious when I finally got Dash in the mood to walk this afternoon, only to run into a young couple with four large loose dogs as soon as we arrived at the park. It was obvious that the couple couldn't control the dogs, because they were yelling at them to come back while the dogs were racing all over the place. I quickly turned around and went the other way. A pack of dogs coming after Dash was not something I wanted to deal with. I'm seeing more and more loose dogs in the park, even though there are signs all over the place saying that this is illegal. The owners of these dogs are almost always young millennials who are having a picnic, sitting in a hammock, smoking a joint, or doing everything except watching their dogs. I loved the park when it was just empty, undeveloped land. Now that the city has spent a lot of money making the park a recreational destination, I'm always having to deal with my fellow citizens. Dealing with other people is almost always frustrating.

I got a writing assignment today that I'm almost certain that I already wrote in 2013. That's how long I've been working with some of my writing clients. Was this a case of everything old is new again, or did they just forget that I'd already written the article?  I showed the guys the article I was talking about, but haven't received an answer on how to proceed. Maybe after writing over 700 articles, you eventually just run out of new things to talk about.

Dot is definitely not leaking as much. If I take her outside at least once every three hours, she is more or less peeing normally again. I'm surprised that the Incurin is working, since it is primarily prescribed for hormone-responsive urinary incontinence in younger dogs. Dot's problem is severe nerve damage from a spinal injury. She can't even wag her tail anymore.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow. I hope the rain isn't severe, because I'll have to cancel going out for breakfast. The dogs still freak out in a thunderstorm. Hey, there's a loaf of bread in the refrigerator. If it rains, I'll make French Toast. That's almost as good as going out.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2584

Dash appears to be in good health. He got a precautionary chest x-ray today to make sure his thyroid cancer hadn't reappeared and his lungs looked clear. When Dash was initially diagnosed with cancer, the oncologist recommended periodic chest x-rays, because if his type of cancer metastasized, it would often spread to the lungs. He's been cancer free for over three years now, but we still give him a check-up every six months. The swollen lymph nodes in his neck have returned to normal as well. After getting his anal glands expressed, which he seems to need every time we visit the vet, we returned home to find that Dot was still asleep and hadn't pooped anywhere. I was pleased at how well the morning turned out.

One of my clients wants to change his domain name and move his website to a new server. I started making preparations for the move after Dash and I returned home. Changing domains and webservers is an easy process as long as you know where everything is located. I had to make a few phone calls to find out where the old and new domains were currently registered and see how much time I had to make the move. I got lucky and ended up talking to a good tech support person today, so I think I have all the information I need. I uploaded all the files to the new server and now all I need to do is find out when the client wants to make the switch, so I can point the domains to the right place. None of this required much imagination or was very difficult, but I was still glad to have something to do today.

Our roller coaster weather has bounced back to the unseasonably warm side of the scale. I had the furnace running this morning when we woke up, but it became so warm later in the day that I had to turn the air conditioner on. Only in Texas will you use the furnace and the air conditioner in the same day. I think it is supposed to get even warmer tomorrow and then another storm system will sweep through town toward the end of the week. I hope we don't have thunderstorms on Friday. Thunderstorms always mean that I need to stay home with the dogs and I look forward to going out to breakfast all week.

Dot seems to be improving in a lot of subtle ways. We haven't had an accident on the way to the back door in the morning for the last four days. There's generally been less leaking during the day as well. I'm hoping that the Incurin is starting to work. What's really surprising is how often Dot is able to get up on her own. I often find her standing up in her pen when I return from running errands and sometimes when she wakes up, she will walk out to her water bowl in the kitchen without any help from me. When she's tired, she still barks for assistance, but there's definitely been some improvement. It's too bad it's so difficult to improve muscle mass in older animals. Dot still has three small tumors that are slowly growing in her liver, but her biggest problem is the severe muscle atrophy in her rear legs. It seems harder for me to improve muscle mass too. No matter how much I exercise, my arms and legs are still too thin.

The new ink for my production printer arrived today, so I guess I'll spend tomorrow unclogging the thing. It's amazing how much time I spend staying prepared. There are always batteries to charge, computer files to backup and archive, and a huge, somewhat obsolete printer that seems to need a lot of TLC. I take such good care of my machines that Rod Serling probably could have used my life as a basis for a Twilight Zone episode.

Tomorrow will be another exciting day filled with laundry to fold and poop to clean up. If you didn't know that Dot and Dash were dogs, it would be easy to think you were reading a mommy blog.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2583

The good thing about January is that it represents a kind of symbolic reset. You can easily trick yourself into thinking that the slate has been wiped clean and that none of the problems of the previous year will follow you into the next. The bad thing about January is that none of this is true. January is just a block of time that follows December. I'm always reminded that the slate is never wiped clean when all of my December bills arrive in early January. It's easy to spend a lot in December. There are Christmas presents, year-end business purchases, subscription renewals, and some of the biggest heating bills of the year. January is when prices go up too. Health insurance always seems to cost more in January. None of this would matter if I sent out a lot of invoices last month, but business is always slow in December. Basically, January is when the chickens come home to roost.

I might have been overly optimistic about Dot's progress with the Incurin pills. Yesterday I thought that they were already starting to work, but last night she woke up in a puddle of pee around 3 AM. Part of the problem was that I went to bed too early. Usually, I take her outside one last time around 11 PM. Yesterday, we called it a day around 9 PM. This obviously didn't work very well. I guess I'll be staying up late again tonight. Hopefully, after we finish the two week loading dose, the Incurin will help get Dot stable again.

Weekdays are mostly just getting up early and going to bed late with a lot of nothing in between.  It's not that weekends are that exciting, but at least I get to sleep in longer. I try to make my meals last as long as I can to make the day shorter. It's nice when there's a assignment to keep me occupied while the dogs are sleeping in the morning, but that doesn't always happen. I had a small website revision to make this morning, but the job took me less than an hour. I don't exactly meditate while I walk Dot around in the backyard, but I do try to empty my mind. You can't rush Dot and you can't fake being patient. Sometimes controlled breathing exercises seem to help. Other times daydreaming works. Either way, it can be a long day.

At least the weather is getting warmer. Holding up Dot's rear legs and waiting for her to get the urge to pee is a lot harder when it's fifteen degrees outside. Lately, I'm having trouble getting Dot and Dash on the same page. Dot is growing more receptive to the idea of afternoon walks and seems to enjoy them. Dash, on the other hand, sometimes refuses to leave the back yard. He'll go to the back gate, sniff the air, and then turn around and head back to the house. Dash used to love long walks, so I don't know what is going on. There is nothing wrong with him physically. It's too bad that I can't walk the dogs together anymore. Dash likes walking with Dot, but he doesn't understand why she walks so slow.

Dash goes back to the vet tomorrow for a follow up visit to check the swollen lymph nodes in his neck. I think he's better, because I can't feel the swelling anymore. He's just about finished with his antibiotics too. Usually, a vet appointment is all it takes to change a slow, uneventful day into a hectic one. Neither dog travels well in the car, but at least Dash doesn't poop in the back seat while I'm trying to drive. I was kind of bored today, but I don't think I'll have this problem tomorrow. Vet visit days usually wear me out.

I had another opportunity to apply for NASA press credentials recently. I don't even follow up on these opportunities anymore. It's going to be a long time before I view another space launch.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2582

Today seemed surprisingly normal. There was no need to get up early. The temperature is back above freezing. And Dot woke up on a dry pad for the first time in a long time. It's too early to celebrate, but starting over with the Incurin medication appears to be working. It still felt like Winter on our morning walk, but the sky was clear and the brisk air felt good. I had a feeling that it was going to be a good day.

I've noticed that I'm not eating as much as I used to. I don't think there's anything wrong, but my appetite has certainly diminished. There was a time when I routinely ate three eggs for breakfast. For many years, two eggs seemed plenty. Lately, I've noticed that one egg fills me up. Of course, when I have eggs for breakfast, I usually have toast and sausage or bacon as well, but I eat less of these too. Maybe this is just a natural part of aging. Eating less probably helps keep my weight stable. I have a feeling that I don't burn nearly as many calories as I was when I was walking Dot and Dash six miles a day.

When the dogs grew too old for our marathon walks, it became apparent that I wasn't going to stay fit by watching TV. That's when I started going to the gym. I didn't have high expectations when I went to the gym today. I'd eaten too much over the holidays and skipped my workouts for two weeks. Much to my surprise, I did pretty well. The normally empty gym was almost full today. I guess people haven't given up on their New Year's resolutions yet.

I stopped by the REI store on the way home. I don't need anything, but it's always fun to look around. Camping food certainly has gone upscale. I was amazed to see that you could get freeze dried versions of Chana Masala, Vietnamese Pho, Chicken Piccata with Tagliatelle Pasta, and Chicken Vindaloo. The prices weren't bad. I'm so lazy about cooking now that I was intrigued about getting some of these meals for my regular evening dinners. Cooking freeze dried camping meals is easy. You just throw the stuff in a pot of boiling water, wait twenty minutes and you're done. I'm also fascinated with Goal Zero solar powered generators. These are basically just very expensive storage batteries with a built-in power inverter. It takes forever to recharge them using solar panels, but everyone who has fantasies about living off the grid needs one.

I can vaguely hear the Golden Globe Awards playing on a TV in another room. I don't think anyone is watching, since Janet is asleep. It's hard to believe I used to really be interested in movies. I watched something new almost every week and even took movie reviews seriously. Just not interested anymore. I don't even know who a lot of the younger actors are.

How can a person's interests change from movies and award shows to freeze dried food? It's all part of life, I guess.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2581

It was fifteen degrees when I woke up this morning. Wisely, we decided that there was no need to walk the dogs right away. Dot still had to make her morning race to the back door to pee, but we were back inside twenty seconds later. As soon as the sun came up, the temperature started climbing. When we all finished breakfast and were finally ready to walk, everybody thought that twenty two degrees was a lot nicer than fifteen.

It's amazing what a difference having a good dehumidifier has made in our lives. Normally, during cold Winter days like this, every window in the house would be dripping with condensation. The condensation got so bad in cold weather that it was starting to rot some of the windowsills. After lowering the average humidity in the house by about 20%, the windows are now clear and dry in all types of weather and the closets aren't damp anymore. I wish I'd known about the benefits of having a dehumidifier when we bought the house. So many things were ruined by moisture over the years. I had a beautiful old Vox Mark VI teardrop guitar that was totally destroyed by storing it in a damp closet for over a decade. Live and learn, I guess.

We restarted Dot on the initial loading dose of her Incurin pills this morning. It's too early to see any results yet, but I'll be looking for them. A medical emergency caused her to become incontinent several years ago after being on IV fluids at the cancer center for almost four full days. I don't remember how long it took the Incurin to work the first time, but I do remember how happy we were when she stopped peeing all over the place. Dot's vet cautioned us not to be overly optimistic, but hopefully these synthetic estrogen pills will work their magic again.

I wonder if traffic is ever going to return to normal? When I was running errands today, it seemed like everyone was still doing their Christmas shopping. Roads were crowded and parking lots were full wherever I went. Shouldn't the holiday rush be over by now? Maybe things will get better when schools are back in session. Maybe the traffic will get worse though. I forget how this works. I think Dallas is a much bigger city than I like to imagine it is. Things have changed a lot in thirty years.

Even though walking the dogs in freezing weather burns off a lot of energy, I need to start going back to the gym. I haven't been for several weeks because Christmas and New Year's both fell on a Sunday. I know that visiting the gym once a week isn't much of a commitment to fitness, but it's all I can manage at the moment. I'm not a slacker though. My fitness tracker still says I average about 12,000 steps a day.

Can you be a Luddite and still like gadgets? That's me. This time of year I'm always fascinated by the new things that make their debut at the CES show in Las Vegas. 3-D printed cars and cheap solar power are cool. I'm probably all in on any technology that allows people to live independent, productive lives off the grid. Technology that connects people together makes me nervous. As metaphors go, I like the image of the lone wolf. I don't like thinking of myself as a bee in a beehive. This is the challenge of growing older. How do you remain independent while your body is deteriorating and forcing you to become more dependent on others? My Dad never found the answer to this question. I probably won't either.

Misty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2580

It snowed today. The snowfall was short lived and there were barely enough flakes to cover the ground, but my reaction was still "what new kind of hell is this." Jeez. Dot has trouble standing up on a rubber safety mat, so you can imagine what snow is like. Oddly, she still wanted to walk, so I did my best to guide her down our slick, snow covered street this afternoon. The temperature barely topped twenty degrees all day, so I would have preferred staying inside. Dash seemed to agree. I couldn't get him to go on a walk at all.

The snow caught me by surprise. I knew it was going to be cold, but I wasn't expecting a wet mess. I was glad I was able to go out for breakfast and run a few errands before the weather got bad. Traffic slows to a crawl in Dallas whenever there is snow or ice. I really like my breakfast restaurant. I'm a solitary person and some places make me feel lonely or uneasy. Other places make me irritable. For some reason I feel like I belong in this place, even though I seldom talk to anyone.

Dot's urinary incontinence continues to get worse, so I reached out to several of my veterinarian friends today to find out what to do next. There are several options, but the general consensus is that we should start over with the Incurin she's been taking. The way Incurin works is that you take a loading dose of two tablets a day for two weeks. If you see an improvement, you can reduce the dose to one tablet a day. You continue reducing the dose each week for as long as you can. We did this two years ago and eventually got to the point where Dot only needed to take half a tablet every other week. If starting the process over again works, Dot will probably need to take a larger dose than she did before, but that will be much better than continually leaking on her bedding.

I was surprisingly busy today, which is usually good when I am house bound. In between taking the dogs outside every fifteen minutes, I managed to complete two website projects and upload the revisions to the server. Against my better judgement, I ordered some more ink for my large production printer. For the past year, I have done nothing but print small daily test pages to keep the printer from getting hopelessly clogged. I keep this printer working just in case. This is why I renewed my Avid Media Composer subscription too. I could save a lot of money if I could just accept the fact that my career is basically over.

I thought the stock market might top 20,000 today, so I turned on the business channel to watch the market close. Instead of a big celebration, I saw another mass shooting at an airport instead. The shooter turned out to be a guy who actually walked into an FBI office less than a year ago and told the agents that voices were forcing him to watch ISIS videos. Jeez, that would have been a warning sign to me. Why was this guy still allowed to own a gun or even fly on a plane? If ISIS can recruit crazy people, we're in big trouble. We've got an entire country full of crazy people.

It's still going to be cold tomorrow, but I looked at a long range forecast and it's supposed to be back over seventy degrees by next Tuesday. Texas weather is insane. You can get Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter all in the same week. I'll be happy when it warms up though. Dealing with Dot in the snow is a major problem.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2578

I got a call from an old college friend who was passing through town today. We talked for almost an hour, which is almost unheard of for me. First we compared notes about who was dead and who was alive among the people we used to hang out with. Then we compared notes about doctors and ailments. Jeez. How did I ever get this old? My friend and I used to play in a band together back in the day. Back then, I don't think either of use would have ever dreamed that we would be having a conversation about Medicare some day in the distant future. Hey, I'm glad my friend still remembered me. There are a lot of people that I don't remember anymore.

Today was even colder than yesterday. I think the temperature is going to continue to drop for the rest of the week. Dot seems to be the only one who likes this Winter weather. You'd think with all her problems that she'd be the one who would want to stay inside, but cold weather invigorates her. She actually seemed eager to walk this morning. I wish she'd been a little more eager to get out of the house when she woke up. We had another accident on the way to the back door and more rugs that needed to go in the washer.

I paid some bills and did a little bookkeeping this afternoon. I'm starting to hate automatic payments, I tend to forget about them and when I eventually do remember to enter them into the ledger, it is always disappointing to realize that I have less money in the bank than I thought I did. Merchants seem to love automatic payments and subscriptions that auto-renew. I prefer to decide who to pay first myself, but there are a few things like health insurance that I'd hate to see expire because of my forgetfulness. I imagine that the older I get, the more I'm going to depend on automatic payments. I'm only mildly forgetful, but there are times when Dot seems to forget what planet she's on. Her vet thinks we ought to try giving her SAMe because there is some evidence that it is effective in slowing down canine dementia. Maybe Dot and I both ought to start taking SAMe.

I went to the vegan store to pick up something for dinner and was disappointed to see that they are already starting to raise their prices. The place has been open less than a year. You'd think they'd wait a while longer before the inevitable price increases. Restaurants and grocery stores need to be careful about price increases. People are particular about what they pay for their food. I think a price increase led to the demise of my first breakfast restaurant. The customers revolted again the price increases, so the management rolled prices back, but lowered the quality of the ingredients to maintain profit margins. That only made matters worse. I still like the vegan meals, but it kind of weird that a plate of vegetables costs more than a big juicy bacon cheeseburger at Chili's.

I think I washed everything in the house today. Dot's incontinence is getting worse and I'm not sure if there's anything we can do. One of our vets recommends adding Phenylpropanolamine to the Incurin she is already taking. Other vets say that Phenylpropanolamine can cause a dog to have strokes, just like the drug does with humans. I hate dealing with pharmaceuticals. All too often the side effects are worse than the cure.

Tomorrow we start all over again. In a lot of ways my life is starting to seem resemble that movie Ground Hog Day. I need to remember to take things on day at a time and always enjoy the good moments even though they might be fleeting.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2529

I spent the day asking questions about the various medications the dogs and I take. Dash had an appointment to check his Levothyroxine levels. He's had to take this drug ever since he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and periodically they need to check and see whether the dose needs to be adjusted. While I was at the vet, I asked about the Incurin Dot was taking for urinary incontinence. Do we need to increase the dose on this one, since it doesn't appear to be working anymore? I was surprised to learn that this drug has been on backorder for months and wasn't even currently available. There were alternate drugs we could try, but each had their own drawbacks. Maybe it might be better to just learn to deal with Dot's leaky bladder.

Later in the day I visited my own doctor to get my prescriptions renewed for another year. The doctor wanted me to stop taking Protonix because it had been linked to a higher incidence of stroke in a recent study. It would have been nice if I knew this ten years ago when I started taking the drug. This is the frustrating thing about prescription medicine. Doctors are always learning new things and this year's favorite treatment can always end up being on next year's dangerous substance list. The doctor also said my blood pressure might be too low. Jeez, I've spent years getting my blood pressure under control under the assumption that lower blood pressure is always better. Now doctors are learning that abnormally low blood pressure is often associated with brain atrophy. Yikes. I'd never even heard of brain atrophy before, but there must be an epidemic of it in this country. How else would you explain all the bad decisions we make.

Every time I see my doctor, he tells me that my Cortisol levels are too high and I need to do something to reduce the amount of stress in my life. I try to explain that there really isn't any significant stress in my life, with the possible exception of cleaning up dog poop day in and day out for years at a time. When I explained the daily routine required to care for an incontinent, crippled dog, it appeared to give the doctor stress. He said that when this happened with his dog, he had to put it down. "Well, that's the difference between you and me," I said. Dot is a happy dog. She just can't care for herself anymore.

I think I've gotten all the prescriptions straightened out for another year. Janet only takes a single statin pill every day, but Dot, Dash, and I have dozens of medications to keep track of. At least Dot and Dash don't have to take the chemotherapy pills anymore. There used to be a gas station on every corner. Now there's a CVS Pharmacy or a Walgreens on every corner. How did we live without all these pills? I certainly believe in the benefits of keeping your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels under control, but it sure would be tempting to quit taking all these meds.

I've got a new article to write tomorrow. It looks like there will be some website work as well. I anticipate a quiet day of writing, punctuated every few hours with the smell of fresh poop. I don't think I was cut out to be a caregiver, but I'm actually doing reasonably well for a person with very little empathy. Dot seems happy anyway. I'll work on keeping the stress under control.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2074

I don't think the stars were aligned today. Janet got the third nail in her tire this month and Dot pooped all over the place. Now that Dot is feeling a little stronger, she doesn't poop in her bed as much. Instead, she gets up and poops on the carpet as she is heading for the back door. If I notice that she is up, I will take her outside immediately, but I slept through the whole thing last night. When Janet got up to take a shower this morning, she stepped in the poop, but I didn't wake up then either. I was really tired.

Needless to say, there was lots of laundry to do today. I washed the dog blankets, two little rugs, and Janet's house slippers. I took a much bigger rug outside and hosed it off. I think this rug is a lost cause though. We will probably have to throw it away. When I finally got the house cleaned up and smelling good again, it was almost time to take Dot downtown for her physical therapy session. I took her outside for a good ten minutes to make sure she didn't have to go again. She did nothing. As soon as we were on our way and stuck in busy traffic, she pooped again in the car. What a mess. Now, I'll have to start carrying a spare protective pad with me in the car. I asked the vet if there was any pill that worked for poop the same way that Incurin does for pee. The Incurin really did cure Dot's urinary incontinence. Evidently, our current problem isn't the same. Dot just doesn't have the strength to empty her colon anymore. It's not her fault, but it does make life difficult.

It didn't rain much today, but we got a huge amount of rain last night. This meant I had to get up on the roof again. I was pleased to see that the patches the roofers made last week seemed to have held up pretty well. I think the roofer has changed brands of the elastomer coating material he uses, because this new coating seemed to be much stronger than the original material. It actually kind of looked like what he promised in the first place. I'll have to call the roofer tomorrow and see what's going on. I know that some of you are convinced that I'm going to kill myself up on the roof, but this is the least of my worries. I'm far more concerned about getting attacked by an aggressive loose dog in the park, or getting involved in a traffic accident with one of the thousands of idiot drivers on Dallas roads. At least my work on the roof is somewhat under my control.

I got some new writing and website assignments toward the end of the day, but I'm not going to worry about them until tomorrow. Even when I'm a day late, I'm still more responsive than anyone else I know. The world just doesn't seem to work anymore. People are either perpetually tired or they just don't care. Sometimes I look around and think I'm witnessing a global burn out. No matter what people are doing, they always seen rushed. I get put on hold a lot when I call my clients these days. There seems to be lots of activity, but nothing actually gets accomplished. How did things get this way?

I have some friends who live near where all those forest fires are located in Washington State. I hope they don't get burned out. I complain about the weather a lot, but at least we don't have hurricanes, forest fires, and mudslides. I can't decide whether I want more rain tomorrow or not. It's a lot of trouble to get all that water off the roof, but even after last night's downpour, the yard still looks dry. I guess I hope it does rain tomorrow, but that it doesn't start until I've finished walking the dogs and returned from my breakfast restaurant. I'd like to wake up refreshed tomorrow morning after getting six hours of deep sleep, This would be so much nicer than waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of dog poop.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1817

One down, three to go. The general consensus was that our first Santa Paws photo event of the year was the best we've ever had. It was certainly the busiest we've ever had. I was exhausted. Usually there are no-shows where you can grab a sandwich or go to the bathroom, but not today. No only did everyone who made an appointment show up with their dogs, there were walk-ins as well. Santa and I were very busy.

When I was putting together the set before we got started this morning, I started to plug one of the strobe lights into the Norman power pack and suddenly realized that I had left both power packs at home. How could I have forgotten something so basic? Without the power packs for the strobes, you've got nothing. At any rate, we had to go all the way back to the house to get the power packs. Everything worked out fine because our first customer was late and so was the volunteer bringing Santa's Sleigh.

I'm probably getting too old for this. I lost count of the number of dogs we photographed today, but I do know there are almost 1000 images on the memory cards. By the time we wrapped things up, I could barely move. My back hurt. My knees hurt. And I had trouble focusing my eyes. The equipment held up pretty well. One of the radio strobe triggers broke, but luckily I had a backup with me. If I have time tonight, I need to figure out whether it is the transmitter or the receiver causing the problem. I hope I can fix this, because these little gizmos are fairly expensive.

Dot has certainly come a long way. A few months ago, we wouldn't have even considered leaving her at home for this length of time. She did fine though. She was sleeping peacefully when we returned from today's photoshoot and wasn't even anxious to go out and pee. We have been gradually reducing the amount of Incurin she takes and now she's down to only one half tablet once every four days. If her incontinence remains under control, we may be able to stop the medication entirely in a month or two.

Tomorrow we repeat everything we did today at a different location. I need to make myself a checklist to make sure I don't forget something important again. I hope whoever is doing the scheduling blocks out a little time for lunch tomorrow. Today's pace was a little overwhelming.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1731 - 9/11

Every year at this time, NBC re-broadcasts the September 11, 2001 Today Show in its entirety. Every year I continue to watch this broadcast while I'm eating breakfast and I'm just as horrified as I was on the day I saw the events unfold on live TV. Thirteen years and several wars later, terrorism is still just as much of a problem as it was then. It's sad. As long as we continue thinking that the terrorists are just a few bad apples in a generally good basket the problem will never go away. The real problem is that a big chunk of the world is still living in the Middle Ages. Do we have the resolve to address the problem the way a Winston Churchill or a Harry Truman would have? I doubt it.

I managed to get one of yesterday's missing websites reinstated on a new server and back online toward the end of the day. Now I need to do the same thing with five more domains and we'll be back where we started. I'd like to think we'll be back where we started anyway. The reality is that there are probably dozens of little inconsistencies that I'll need to resolve in the days ahead. I know I'm going to have to re-write some online forms. Just about every hosting company seems to handle these things differently.

Dot had another good day at her physical therapy session. She can consistently do a twenty minute workout now and each week we increase the speed of the treadmill slightly during her interval training. I know that Dot would rather just take a long nap, but this is very good for her. Her muscle tone is improving and I honestly don't think any of our dogs were this strong at Dot's age. Her vet is pleased at how quickly the Incurin is starting to work as well. Dot has gone three days without an accident now. After two weeks we can start gradually reducing the amount of Incurin she receives until all she requires is a very low maintenance dose.

I go down to Baylor for another blood test tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that this new lab work will give me the ammunition I need to discontinue my Statin drugs. I don't like the side effects of statins, but if my liver panel comes back normal, I'm sure all my doctors will want to continue them. Statins and Niacin are much more effective at controlling Lipids and bad cholesterol than anything else on the market.

I got two new writing assignments today. I haven't done a lot of writing this summer, so it will be nice to have a change of pace from all the website work. I've got a big photo shoot scheduled for Saturday as well. I'm glad the dogs are getting better now. A month ago I wouldn't have had the time to do these things.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1729

Today was pleasant. Janet took the day off from work, so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn like we usually do. When we took the dogs on their morning walk, there was a hint of Fall in the air. Mornings are quite pleasant now and even the evenings are starting to get a bit cooler. Dot and Dash enjoy the cooler weather as much as I do. I think the brisk morning air brings out the best in all of us. Even breakfast was more enjoyable this morning. I had a tasty cheese quiche and spicy sausage patties instead of my usual Tuesday bowl of oatmeal.

I reconnected with a former client today and it looks like we are going to work together again. I'm always surprised when someone who has fired me wants to get back together, but this isn't the first time this has happened. I have a feeling that as bad as I may seem at the time, clients quickly discover that there's always someone out there who is even worse. I may be grumpy, but at least I'm reliable.

Since Janet was around today to keep an eye on the dogs, I went back to the gym. Although it is still counter-intuitive to me, the more often I workout, the easier everything becomes. Today didn't seem nearly as painful as Sunday, even though I did exactly the same exercises. If two visits to the gym every week is good, three visits would probably be even better. I haven't found that much free time, unfortunately. On busy days I think I never will.

I'm still enough of an Apple fanboy to eagerly anticipate each new product announcement from the company. I certainly don't need a new phone, since Apple just gave me a brand new iPhone 5, but I'll have to admit that today's introduction of the iPhone 6 made it look pretty intriguing. The first thing that caught my attention was that the new phone has a much better camera. I may not talk to people much on the phone, but I use the camera a lot. This new camera is supposed to focus more accurately and have improved image stabilization. I would greatly appreciate both of these features, since selective focus is almost impossible using the current camera and image stabilization is kind of a joke.

Apple also introduced the smart watch they've been talking about for years. I don't know what to think about this watch. It's way too expensive for starters. I wonder how many people are going to be interested in a watch that costs even more than the iPhone itself. The watch does have a lot of cool features, but most of them are already available on your phone. The best thing about the watch is that it is well made and looks quite stylish. I think it is pretty anyway. From what I've been reading, a lot of people in the watch world don't agree and think the thing is ugly. I'll probably end up getting one anyway. I've never been able to resist new technology.

Dot had another good day today. Maybe the Incurin pills she's taking are starting to work. I wonder how many good days it will take before I feel comfortable letting her sleep on the bed without a ton of waterproof protective pads to guard against accidents. I know we're not ready yet, so I will soon go and prepare the bed for another unpredictable night. Since today felt like a Sunday, I wonder if tomorrow will feel like another Monday. I certainly wouldn't want two Monday's in a single week.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1726

We started the day with a gentle breeze and ended with a thunderstorm. In between were all the usual errands and chores you'd normally expect on a Saturday. Even though I'm not a big fan of rainy days, I was glad to see the storm arrive. The yard was starting to look really dry. The dogs and I got lucky on our evening walk and managed to return to the house about five minutes before the deluge started. As soon as the thunder and lightning began, Dot and Dash retreated to their safe haven under my desk. I was sure that all the commotion would make Dot pee, but it didn't. She actually had a very good day with no accidents at all.

We started Dot on the Incurin medication this morning, but it was pure coincidence that her incontinence wasn't much of a problem today. The vet said that it would take up to two week before we would start to see results from the medication. It wouldn't be realistic to see results on the very first day. Dot was just having one of her good days. It could all change tomorrow.

I went to the neighborhood health food store to pick up some more Stevia for my morning coffee. While I was there, I asked when they were going to have another cholesterol screening. As you probably know, I'm addicted to having my blood tested and would never turn down a low cost cholesterol screening. The store owner told me that they weren't doing the screenings anymore because the Phlebotomist who drew your blood during these tests died of a heart attack last month. This was a young, seemingly healthy guy who was well aware of the risk factors for heart disease. I was shocked. No wonder my general practitioner is so concerned about heart attacks. My Dad had a heart attack. Several of my friends in the advertising world have already had heart attacks. Lately, it seems like every few months I learn of another acquaintance who has just had a heart attack. We are all worried about terrorists these days, but we will probably just die of a heart attack.

I got the Epson 4880 working again this afternoon. I don't know why I spend so much time and money keeping this large format printer functional. I'll probably never have a gallery show again. I won't be doing store window posters for local retail clients either. I feel the same way about my video editing equipment. I hate to give up on these things, even though they are rapidly becoming analog artifacts from a distant past. It's kind of sad to me that all you need is a phone these days. I was much happier when it was essential to have 500 pounds of cranky, difficult to use equipment. The printer and the tape decks will eventually wind up in the storage warehouse with the 4x5 Sinar view camera, a relic from the day when I would spend 30 minutes composing a single image in the camera and then another two hours processing the large sheets of film in the darkroom.

It's time to hit the gym again. It feels like my shoulder has recovered enough from last week's torture to go through my workout again. I feel the same way about my dislocated shoulder as I do about Dot's incontinence. I'm not sure if these things will ever really get better. You can't let a little pee or pain stop you though. I think Dot understands better than I do that you've just got to make the best of things and keep moving forward.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1725

I seem to be spending more and more time doing less and less. The dogs have slowed down, and so have I. Our morning walks take twice as long now. Dot isn't a sprinter anymore. We walk slowly and enjoy the surroundings. Now that the dogs aren't tugging at their leashes and racing ahead, they seem to enjoy smelling things more. They smell their way from bush to bush and eventually we find our way home again.

I work faster when there are tight deadlines to meet. Without deadlines, just about any job expands to fill the available time. It is ironic that I actually feel busier when there is less work to do, but that's just the way it is. I know I wouldn't have spent so much time on today's web project if I had something more important to do.

I lose things and spill things more often than I used to. I must spend several hours a week looking for my reading glasses. I take them on and off so frequently that I never know where they're going to wind up. Ditto for the remote control on the television. Dot may pee on things, but I spill things. I seem to have a perpetual cup of coffee in my hand and when the cup is full, it tends to spill. Sometimes I spill water in the kitchen when I'm doing dishes and then I'll look down later and think that Dot peed on the floor. Nope, it was just clumsy me.

Janet and I decided it was time to start giving Dot the Incurin pills. Her incontinence has actually gotten worse this week. It's been long enough since her surgery that we should have seen some sustained improvement by now. Several people I know have given their dog these estrogen replacement pills and all of them were happy with the results. My vet says that she has treated over a dozen dogs for incontinence using Incurin and said there were significant improvements in every single case. I had considered using phenylpropanolamine instead, but several people told me that dogs build up a resistance to the drug over time and that you have to keep increasing the dosage. You do the opposite with Incurin, gradually decreasing the dosage after an initial two week loading dose. It would be better if Dot could resolve this problem herself, but it doesn't look like this is going to happen. We have actually waited quite a bit longer than the six weeks the specialists at the cancer center recommended and I think it's finally time to do something. We should know within two weeks if this is going to work.

Just about every time I picked up my new phone today, it kept asking me for passwords. I had to reset most of them, because I just couldn't remember the old password. Some passwords were easy to re-set and others were so difficult they required a call to tech support. I have over 80 apps on my phone and probably use less than ten of them. It will probably be easier to delete the applications I no longer use than it is to reauthorize all of them. At any rate, the important apps are all working now. I'll probably never get around to the rest of them.

Breakfast was good this morning. It's probably only a matter of time before I start going out for breakfast every morning.

Alie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day