Day 2801

I wasn't expecting things to go so smoothly today. We didn't get any rain, so I was able to walk Dash before we went to the vet. The walk made a difference. Dash wasn't as wild in the car, and more importantly there was no poop to clean up. The car still smells clean. I think the Phenobarbital level test was done correctly too, so we probably won't have to do this again.

After I brought Dash home, I went out for breakfast and ran a few errands. I had Lox and a bagel, which always reminds me of traveling. Maybe when life returns to normal, I'll do some traveling. NASA still offers writers like me opportunities to view launches from time to time. It would be fun to apply for press credentials again. We'll se how the rest of the year goes. Right now there are bills to pay and Janet needs to get healthy again.

The roofers delivered a big can of the special elastomer coating for the roof. I would have preferred that they applied the coating themselves, but this is a reasonable compromise. The problem now is that the five gallon can of elastomer is way too heavy for me to move to the roof.  One of my errands today was to find smaller cans that I could transfer the product to and them hoist them up to the roof with a rope. I'm not sure how the roofers got the large cans up on the roof, but I certainly can't move this thing by myself. I've got plenty of time to come up with a plan. It looks like it is going to rain all weekend.

We're getting better at changing bandages. Luckily, Janet goes back to the doctor on Monday so somebody who knows what they're doing can review our work. I'd hate to think that we were doing something wrong day after day. You'd think that after complicated surgery, doctors wouldn't want to leave anything to chance. Changing dressings yourself seems fairly universal though. Unless you go home in a cast, you'll eventually have to change a bandage or two.

Hurricane Harvey looks pretty bad. I'm watching the Weather Channel now and wondering why whenever there's a hurricane, reporters like to stand out in the rain and get blown around by gusts of wind. It seems like a broadcast tradition. I'm always amazed that people like to live in low costal areas. Hurricanes are nothing new. They occur over and over again. Towns get flooded and they just rebuild in the same place and start over. Hopefully, everyone will stay safe, but I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to have some serious flood damage tonight. Here I am worrying about a few inches of water on my roof and there are thousands of people dealing with a nine foot storm surge.

When Janet is home I forget what day it is. They all seem the same. Today seemed a lot like Saturday. You can't tell what day it is by the traffic anymore. There is horrible traffic everyday. I actually did think it was Saturday for a while when I was grocery shopping this afternoon. Maybe I'll think it's Sunday tomorrow.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2731

I had some websites that needed to be updated this morning and when I opened the design application I normally use, I was greeted with a message saying that my browser was out of date and that I needed to upgrade to the latest version before I could save my files. WTF? Everything worked fine yesterday. I tried to upgrade the browser and I was greeted by another message saying that newer versions were not supported by my current operating system. This was getting really irritating. I tried to change the website without using the expensive cloud-based design application, but it was hard to get everything to format correctly. This is why I hate cloud-based applications. You aren't in control anymore.

I had to get the website fixed today, so I upgraded the operating system on a laptop that didn't have anything important on it and then downloaded the new browser that my web application wanted. I was eventually able to fix the client's website, but I couldn't upload the new files because the FTP program I use was on the other computer. What a mess. By the time I got the website updated, many hours had passed and I knew I wasn't going to get anything else done. When I contacted customer support and asked them why they were making my life so difficult, they just said that hardly anyone was using OS 10.8.5 anymore and they decided to stop supporting it. Thanks for nothing guys.

At least I had a nice breakfast this morning. I haven't had Lox and Bagels for quite a while and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy them. This used to be my go-to travel breakfast when I was on business trips. Needless to say, it's been a while. It was nice to have an enjoyable meal completely unaware that the rest of my day was going to be filled with computer problems. If I knew what I was in store for, I probably wouldn't have eaten at all.

I think Dash had a good excuse for not wanting to walk today. It was so hot that I didn't want to go outside either. In Dallas we go straight from praying the furnace won't break to praying the air conditioner won't break. There only seems to be a few weeks of nice mild weather, and even then the air is so filled with pollen that my eyes are constantly watering. When it gets hot in Dallas I fantasize about living in Colorado or Wyoming. When I was a kid, our family spent summers near Crested Butte long before it became a ski area. We lived in a little cabin up near the timberline and the air always seemed so clean and fresh. Of course, the air was probably clean and fresh everywhere fifty years ago.

I'm sure the weekend will be busy. There's another website I need to update using the convoluted and time consuming two computer method I improvised today. There are a bunch of household chores that I'd planned on starting today that now have to wait until tomorrow. Everything will get done, but personally I'd rather sleep in late and do nothing at all.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day