Day 2495

I carefully filled the new garbage can today and took it out to the curb. I did my best to make sure that each black trash bag wasn't too heavy or too full. If the truck still fails to empty my trash tomorrow morning, I'm going to conclude that someone is fucking with me. I know there are probably better things to do than fret about my trash, but it beats fretting about whether Dot's poop is too hard or too soft, or wondering why the bananas for my smoothie aren't ripening faster.

I've got a lot of questions for Dot's oncologist tomorrow when we go to the cancer center for another ultrasound scan and recheck. Dot seems to be getting weaker, but the problems don't appear to be related to her cancer. There are just too many things going on at once. The liver cancer is still there and probably contributes to how tired she is at times, but the real problems are with her legs. The neurological damage in her rear legs has caused her to compensate and transfer more weight to her front legs. Now her front legs go out occasionally and I have to be real careful and try to provide some support for all four legs when I take her outside. Today, she slipped and cut her nose when she fell on a stick on the ground. The cut was minor, but it reminded me of just how fragile she's become.

Janet had to work late tonight, so I had to walk Dot on my own. Even simple things like trying to lock the back door while holding Dot upright seemed problematic. I need two leashes to walk her now: one for the front legs and another for the back legs. There are so many strings that it probably appears like Dot is a marionette as we slowly walk down the street. Without Dash to guide her, Dot's pace was even slower than usual. We inched along making our way down the alley behind our house. Eventually she pooped when a neighbor dog got her barking. Sometimes barking does the trick when nothing else works.

The Jewish holidays have sidelined one of my clients for a while, but I don't know what has happened to the others. It was completely silent today. No e-mails. No phone calls. Nothing. This never used to happen. I guess I better get used to it. It's a collaborative world these days and my lone wolf style of working has gone out of fashion. I used to think it might be fun to go back and work for a large agency again sometime. No one would hire me now. Even if age weren't an issue, I don't seem to play well with others.

I really hope I don't have to load the car up with garbage tomorrow and look for a dumpster again. It kind of spoils my Friday breakfast ritual. Life has become very stressful and I need a couple of hours each week to eat something tasty while I pretend I'm taking a break at roadside cafe in rural Wyoming. Wyoming sounds real nice right now.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1029

It's been almost a year since I started taking a camera with me when I walk the dogs. During my first three or four months as a dog walking photographer, I would see something new and interesting almost every day. Now, I've started to notice that nature repeats itself with remarkable regularity. Flowers appear and disappear with clockwork precision. Birds return to exactly the same logs and pilings where I photographed them last year. Squirrels seem to be perpetually digging up the same nut. I feel like I've documented every square inch of my tiny little world. There must still be new things happening all around me, but I'm just not seeing them. I guess I'll have to look a little harder.

An estimator came out this morning to measure the utility room and recommend a new furnace. The room is so small and cramped that I have no idea how everything got in there in the first place. The furnace, the washer, the dryer and the water heater all seem too large to even fit through the door. The estimator assured me that installing a new furnace would be no problem. This was reassuring, but I think he was being overconfident. Everything about this house ends up being a problem. Problems or not, we should have a new furnace installed by the end of the week.

I'm glad the Jewish Holidays are finally over for a while. I've had some camera equipment on order from B&H in New York City since before Rosh Hashanah and it still hasn't been delivered. I completely forgot how many holy days there are during September and October. I had thought about ordering from Adorama instead, but it wouldn't have done much good. They follow exactly the same holiday schedule. Basically, it's just not a good idea to buy a camera in October.

Since I wasn't having much luck with the camera, I went and bought an iPhone case instead. Why doesn't anyone make the kind of case I like anymore? I loved the soft Griffin perforated silicon case I had for my old phone, but nobody makes these things anymore. Now, big clunky cases like OtterBox are popular. Boo. I finally bought a trim looking white Speck case, but it wasn't what I really wanted. Maybe I'll get one of those fancy LunaTik cases when they start selling them later this Fall. It would be just like me to get a case that costs more than the phone.

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day