Day 4022

We found a couple of ticks on Dawn while she was sitting on the bed this morning. Since the last thing you want is ticks in your bed, we washed all the bedding. It takes quite a few loads to wash the sheets, the blankets, the comforter, and whatever else was on the bed at the time. We did take Dawn outside and brushed her too but didn't find any additional ticks. When I remade the bed later in the day, I realized that it was a lot harder to put on a fitted sheet than it used to be. My shoulder has really gotten worse. It's not so easy to lift up the mattress and tuck everything in anymore.

We've quit taking a walk before breakfast. With very little evidence to back up our decision, we decided that it's going to be easier to walk Dawn later in the day when it is warmer. It didn't actually get warmer today, but that wasn't our fault. Dawn did well today. We took an old familiar route and she only froze once for a very short amount of time. For the most part, she was back to her old self today. Maybe Dawn knows what happened yesterday, but she sure isn't talking.

It's still hard to remember what day it is. We started getting mail again today and I fixed a smoothie for breakfast. It must be Monday. It was a good thing we walked Dawn when we did, because the sky kept getting darker as the day progressed. It wasn't supposed to rain until tomorrow, but I should have known better than to trust the forecast. It started raining right about when I was getting ready to take my afternoon walk.

Since I couldn't walk and I'd already finished cleaning all the bedding, I decided up upgrade the firmware on my new camera. I'm always a bit apprehensive about upgrading firmware on electronic equipment. There were all sorts of warnings in the camera's instruction book that if you didn't follow the instructions for firmware upgrades exactly, there was a good chance that you could brick your camera. Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. The entire procedure took about fifteen minutes and I kept thinking that something might go wrong the entire time. If the Internet went out during the procedure you bricked the camera. If the power went out, same thing. Japanese camera companies don't always do a great job of translating their manuals into English either. The instructions I was supposed to follow to the letter weren't entirely clear. The upgrade went smoothly though, even if it did take a long time. I now have a camera that will do even more things that I will probably never find a use for.

I've decided that it wouldn't be smart to go out to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Perseverance landing in February. The situation in California keeps getting worse and worse. To get to JPL, I'd have to fly into Los Angeles which seems to be leading the nation in new virus cases. Hospitals are full. The city seems to be in full lockdown. Oh, well. Space adventures can wait. I"m sure there will be something else the magazine might be interested in later. With the way things are going, I doubt that I'd be welcome at JPL anyway.

I really need to remember to take out the trash tomorrow evening. The trucks come by on Wednesday morning during the holidays. I forgot about the holiday schedule last week and the trash is stacking up. Maybe this is why Facebook finds my blog offensive. I'm always talking trash.

Petey and Dot are Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3342

Apparently, there are younger people who belong to my gym after all. When I arrived this morning, there were about fifty people I'd never seen before participating in some kind of fitness event. It looked like some sort of an indoor triathlon. I couldn't shoot baskets because the court was filled with stationary bicycles. They were actually real bicycles with their rear wheels raised off the ground. It looked like participants started in the gym's pool, then went to the bicycles, and then finished on the running track. I don't know how you could determine a winner because the bicycles definitely weren't going anywhere. Maybe it wasn't a race. There was a guy wearing a wireless microphone delivering some sort of motivational message as the crowd peddled away on the bicycles. Maybe this was a class. It all seemed pretty strange to me. I'll have to check and see if this is going to be a regular thing now. If it is, I might need to change the day I exercise.

Somehow, Dash slipped off his puppy training pad last night and I woke up to a larger than expected mess. I thought I had this incontinence down to a science, but life is full of surprises. So much for sleeping in this morning. I hosed off the soiled bedding, started a load of wash and got ready for our morning walk. Dash and I have been walking on our own this week, but this morning he wouldn't leave the house without Janet leading the way. We waited for her to get dressed and get the walk started. Then, just like that, everything was back to normal again. I often wonder what Dash is thinking. He seems to have a plan, but he rarely shares it with me. Every day is full of surprises.

It must have rained last night, since the ground was wet and muddy. Dash doesn't seem to mind the damp weather, but it's hard on his protective boots. You'd think that since the outer layer is rubber, the inner layers would stay dry. Nope. The special fitted bandage and cotton sock he wears under the rubber outer boot are always soaking wet on damp days. The lightweight outer boots we are using now tear easily too. The system we have devised is far from perfect, but at least his paws aren't getting bloody anymore. Maybe this is as good as it's going to get. Heavier, more durable boots make it difficult for Dash to walk and anything lighter would provide no protection at all.

I should have done some cleaning this afternoon, but I was too tired. After I got home from the gym, I took a shower and then I took a nap. When Dash is restless, a nap is always the best way to calm him down. Dash gets tired easily, but he doesn't like to be alone. Janet often watches Netflix movies with him, while I prefer to just curl up and do nothing. My theory is that lots of naps will eventually add up to a good night's sleep.

It's hard to believe that it's the middle of February already. I wish it were the middle of April. The days are getting longer now, but it's still wet and cold. There's still a lot of Winter ahead of us. The good news is that I've seen no signs of a roof leak after several heavy rains. There are no signs that my allergies are going away either. I'm still taking the antihistamines. The only place I can breathe freely is in the car. I've always wondered why the cabin air filter was so expensive to replace. Now I know. This filter is really good. When I drive somewhere, I'm in a hermetically sealed little capsule.

I wonder why Monday still feels like a work day? I haven't done any real work in months, but I still dread Monday mornings.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3189

Mondays are just like any other day, except slower. I woke up trying to remember whether I'd taken Dash out last night. It seems like I did, but maybe not. Dash wasn't telling. He was sound asleep in the middle of the bed. He eventually woke up and took his morning pills, but we got off to a slow start.

We should have started our walk earlier, because the temperature has warmed up again. We were both hot and tired when we returned to the house. I need to remember to bring my camera on morning walks. The Egrets and Cranes have returned to the lake and I could have taken some great shots today if I had a telephoto lens. The wide angle lens on my phone is really only good for flowers.

I must not have done all my chores yesterday, because the house was a mess. The dishwasher was full. There was laundry to be done. And most of the wastebaskets needed to be emptied. I'm still amazed that tiny little tasks like these can consume my entire day.

When I got caught up on household chores, I paid the first batch of September bills and took them to the post office. When I got home, I checked the mailbox and there were more bills. You'd think my bills would diminish, since I don't do much of anything these days. Apparently, doing nothing can still use a lot of water and electricity. All my utility bills are way higher than they were five years ago. I don't know why I get a phone bill at all. The phone company should be paying me. All I get is a never ending barrage of telemarketing calls.

Dash has become very needy. He mostly just sleeps during the day, but he doesn't like to sleep alone. He gets mad when he wants to be in the bedroom and I'm in the office. We have a ritual now. I'll go curl up with him on the bed, and then get up and sneak away to do some work as soon as he falls asleep. It works pretty well since he goes to sleep very quickly. After a few hours, Dash will wake up and want to go outside to pee. Then we'll repeat the entire process all over again. It's a good thing I'm a patient person. These days can get pretty long.

I made an appointment to pick up the art I had restored. I'm not going to display the piece again, so the conservator is just going to box it up. I hope I can get the rest of this stuff to an auction house before I run out of energy or lose interest. Truthfully, I'm already starting to lose interest. When I look around the office, I just want it empty. It seems like a monumental job. Basically, I'm still a packrat at heart. I guess I could start by throwing away boxes and boxes of old video tapes. I still have all the camera masters for most of the corporate videos I've produced over the years. I don't have the clients anymore, so there is little use in hanging on to the tapes. Few people could play these tapes anyway. Try finding a working 3/4 inch Umatic machine. Even the newer BetsSP tapes are getting pretty old.

Dash just finished eating a large and very late dinner. I wish he get hungry a little earlier. Eating this late just about guarantees that I'll be taking him out at 3 AM to poop.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3147

You know you've finally come to terms with your dog's incontinence when he poops in the bed and you're just happy that the poop is firm. I thought I smelled something last night, but I was really tired and Dash farts a lot anyway. I didn't notice that he'd pooped in the bed until morning. This was a first and I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. At least the mess was on Dash's dog blanket and it was easy to clean up.

We've been through this before with Dot.There was a period of time between when she initially became incontinent and when she lost the ability to climb on the bed that we were doing a lot of laundry. I hope Dash's instinct to head for the back door continues for a while. It makes life a lot easier.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to write on Monday. Nothing ever happens on Monday. The big event of the day was putting the new vehicle registration sticker on my windshield. If the state doesn't need a safety inspection sticker anymore, I wonder why they still need a registration sticker? Probably it's just a different bureaucracy that's involved. I can tell that the carpel tunnel in my wrist has gotten worse. It was surprisingly difficult to position the sticker in the bottom corner of the windshield. It probably would have been easier if I wasn't such a perfectionist. The sticker had to be absolutely parallel.

Dash had a nice walk this morning, but as soon as we returned home, he seemed exhausted. We walked really slow and he seemed to be enjoying himself, but maybe we are overdoing things. It's hard to tell. Dash went to sleep while I was fixing my smoothie and didn't return to the kitchen to eat his own breakfast until 10:30 AM. He does still eat his meals, but there is no real schedule anymore. I just leave the food in his bowl and he eats when he's hungry.

It looks like I won't be able to upgrade my computers anymore. Apple just announced that it's new Mojave operating system won't run on any of the computers currently I have. Apparently, they are all too old. Apple is actively trying to make the operating system in their computers work more like their phones. Pretty soon your desktop computer is just going to be a big, giant iPhone. I guess a lot of people like this idea. Not me. I have a feeling that I'd probably be happier using Linux now. Apple is working way too hard to please the millennials.

I wonder if anything interesting will happen tomorrow. I need to write my sister and I should probably call the guitar store to see if the guitar that disappeared from the website actually sold. If it sold it would give me an excuse to drive over to the store and pick up a check. There's always naps. I took a long nap with Dash today. It wouldn't be difficult to do the same thing tomorrow.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2741

I'm trying to get organized. I made an appointment to take my car in for service. I went up to my doctor and tried to schedule my annual physical. I paid the remaining June bills sitting on my desk and I did some laundry. I don't think it mattered that I postponed some of these things. The first appointment I could get at the Land Rover dealer was three weeks from now and there was an equally lengthy wait at my doctor's office. At least I've taken care of these things now. They're on my calendar and I don't have to think about them anymore.

It didn't seem like Monday. Janet has always been a workaholic and is typically out of the house before I'm even fully awake. We get started much later now. Janet needs to rest and Dash and I have never had any strong desire to get out of bed. We didn't finish our morning routine until almost noon today. I do most of the chores these days, but it's not like I have anything better to do. I'm probably a pretty good person to have around as a nurse. I've got all the time in the world.

I'm still debating whether to go and see the eclipse this August. Janet should be a lot better by then. I'd like to go to Wyoming where crowds are expected to be small. It's much less expensive to go someplace like Kansas City though, where crowds will probably be huge. I started to look at airfares and quickly realized that major airlines are already raising fares to popular destination cities on the days immediately before and after the eclipse. It's probably all computerized. When demand for flights goes up, fares probably immediately go up as well. I don't even want to think about driving. From what I'm reading, the traffic on eclipse day will be like twenty Woodstocks happening at once.

We really like the home nurse. It's comforting to have someone who knows what they're doing reassure us that everything is going OK. The hospital went to great lengths to instill a fear of infections and now just about everything seems like it could be the beginning of an infection. Most of the changes that occur each day are just the body's normal response to surgery. Even though nothing has gone wrong, it's still important to be careful.

I learned how to make banana bread tonight. Sometimes there are left over bananas at the end of the week from my morning smoothies and they get used for banana bread. The whole process seemed pretty straightforward and the bread came out great, but I don't think I'm going to become a baker anytime soon. As soon as Janet recovers, the kitchen is all hers. I have a real aversion to cooking. One of the reason I am thin is that if food is difficult to fix, I just don't eat. Lots of people I know love to cook. I'd probably rather eat something I dislike than cook something I love.

Janet got one of those adult coloring books as a get-well gift. She seems to enjoy it. I don't think I could ever do one of those things. I'd lose interest within five minutes. I don't need an adult coloring book anyway. This blog is my adult coloring book. I'm just filling in the days.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2604

Dash had another seizure last night. This episode was much milder than the one he experienced on Sunday, but clearly something is wrong. This looks more like vestibular disease than a typical epileptic seizure. Instead of falling to the ground and having convulsions, Dash appeared dizzy and unsteady on his feet, moving his head from side to side during the episode. Dot had very similar symptoms when she was diagnosed with vestibular seizures four or five years ago. We ran a bunch of expensive tests and took her to a neurologist, but we never did determine the cause. After three seizures, she quit having them and was completely normal until she developed cancer a few years later. I made an appointment to take Dash to the vet tomorrow, but I'm not terribly optimistic about finding a solution to this problem. Neurological problems can be hard to diagnose and even harder to cure. If Dash does have geriatric vestibular syndrome, there isn't a cure anyway.

Now, I'm wondering if Dash's odd behavior on his afternoon walks might be connected to these recent seizures. Sometimes Dash will just stop for no apparent reason and look confused. Often, he'll appear nervous or refuse to move forward and then we'll have to re-trace our steps to return home. Other times he is even reluctant to leave the yard. If Dash has been experiencing vertigo or dizziness, which is common during vestibular events, this would explain a lot. We'll have to be real careful about the diagnosis, since Dash already has a history of epilepsy. You don't treat epilepsy and vestibular disease the same way. If it turns out that Dash is having vestibular seizures, we definitely don't want to increase the amount of phenobarbital he is taking. 

I miss the days when both dogs were healthy. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but really it's just been about three years. I often forget that dogs age much quicker than we do. Measured in human years, Dot would be well over 100 now. Dash is younger, but he would still be over 70. No wonder they are falling apart. Dog years are a bitch. I really wish that our pets lived as long as we do. Janet and I have had quite a few dogs, and sometimes it feels like I've spent the better part of my life dealing with dying animals.

It definitely felt like a Monday. Things got off to a slow start and remained slow for the rest of the day. Luckily Dot didn't have any major problems today. We took the dogs on a shorter walk this morning. Janet was already late for work when we got started and we were both worried about Dash. A seizure at home is bad enough. A seizure out in the park would be even worse. I'm caught up on work, so I spent the day doing some much needed bookkeeping and marking a few things off my to-do list. I even called a tree service to come out and give me an estimate for trimming the trees in the back yard. I skipped pruning last year and there are a few dead branches on the big oak trees that need attention. I have a healthy respect for falling tree limbs. Once, a large limb fell next to me and I quickly realized that if I had been standing fifteen feet to my left, I would have been dead.

I hope we can discover what's going on with Dash tomorrow. Seizures can be frightening and I want him to be able to lead a normal life. I want us all to be able to lead a normal life. It's just getting a little harder.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2506

I picked up the watch I took in for repairs last week and exactly fifteen minutes after I returned home, the broken link they allegedly fixed fell apart again. I should have known that this would be an exercise in frustration. I'm pretty good at fixing things like this and when I realized that a repair was impossible, I should have known that it would be impossible for others as well. I wish the repair guy had just told me the obvious. The weird flexible rubber joints that held the metal band together were forty years old and the rubber was crumbling. Glue just wasn't going to work. Later in the day, Janet asked me why I didn't just remove the defective link and make the band smaller. Duh. I never thought of that and apparently neither did the watch repairman.

I've been tired all day. I had a major cleanup in the middle of the night when Dot had a dog dream right after she pooped in her bed and ended up kicking the poop across the room. What a mess. By the time I got things cleaned up, I was wide awake and felt like putting on a pot of coffee and starting the day at 3 AM. I knew better though. Every hour of sleep counts. I went back to bed marveling at the fact that Dot never woke up through the entire episode. She was still sleeping peacefully.

Today would have been a perfect day for the roofers to come over, but not surprisingly, they are ignoring me again. As soon as it rains, I'm sure they'll call and tell me how they were planning to come out if only it wasn't so wet. I have a feeling that the roofers and the garbage man are having a beer together somewhere, laughing at how easy it is to pull my chain.

I had so many little errands to do today that it was easy to forget how slow work has been this month. For some reason I thought I could clean out all the gunk that had accumulated in the washing machine's soap drawer. I wasted most of the morning taking the thing apart and was disgusted at all the mold and slime I found. Don't ever buy a front loader washing machine. They're almost as bad as a flat roof on your house. The afternoon was spent picking up prescriptions for Dot, selecting some additional meals at the vegan take out store, going to the bank, and looking for the illusive spot in the back yard where Dash pooped last night. It's almost impossible to clean up the poop in the dark, and equally impossible to remember where it is the next morning.

Dot seemed weak and lethargic today. This surprised me, since she was doing great this weekend. Every day is a new day with Dot. Some days, she'll be able to get up on her own and wander around the house. Other days she can barely move. I'm used to a world with distinct causes and corresponding effects. Aging isn't like this at all. The weird blend of physical and mental deterioration can totally surprise you at times. Hopefully, Dot will bounce back a bit tomorrow. She certainly got plenty of rest today.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2470

I was thinking about freedom and discipline while I was at the gym today. I've always hated rules and regulations, but I'm certainly not much of a free spirit. I think of myself as a highly disciplined person with a poorly defined sense of purpose. If I start something, I finish it. Period. Don't ask me why I started though. This apparent contradiction certainly sums up my trips to the gym. I'm no slouch and work out strenuously, but I have no goals. I'm not sure if I've achieved anything at all. Maybe I just go to the gym so I can listen to TED talks in the car while I'm driving there.

I hate vacuuming, but I vacuum the house with a vengeance almost every Sunday. That's discipline. Moving the dog beds around, cleaning all the rugs, and then cleaning the brick floors under them takes a lot of time. There is always an enormous amount of dirt and dog hair in the Dyson canister when I'm finished, but the house doesn't look any cleaner. How could I keep removing all this dirt and there's still more? It seems to violate some fundamental law of physics. At some point you'd think all the dirt would finally be gone. I feel the same way about the dehumidifier. Gallons of water are removed from the house every day, and yet the moisture in the air never really disappears.

The combination of a roof that turns into a lake every time it rains, bills that keep arriving whether you spend any money or not, industrious spiders that obscure the living room windows with new webs every evening, squirrels and possums that work tirelessly to destroy the lawn, dust and dirt that seems to have acquired a life of its own, and a dog that poops in the house every time I decide to take a shower, all require discipline just to stay on top of things. I don't feel like I've got the freedom to ignore these intrusions. You've just got to keep going to keep the chaos at bay.

So, am I having fun at the gym? I really don't know. I don't hate going, but I don't love going either.  It's just 63 minutes out of my day. I'm starting to feel the same way about going out for breakfast or even writing this blog. I don't question any of these things, but have forgotten what it was that made any of this seem like a good idea. Occasionally, someone asks me what I'm passionate about. I just give them a blank stare. It's discipline, not passion that keeps me going.

None of this is a bad thing. I'm actually a relatively happy person. Maybe it's just me, but I think a lot of people would be better off if they substituted discipline for passion. Just finishing what you started can be it's own reward.

Tomorrow, I'll start the day by making the bed. I'll concoct a delicious smoothie from strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, eggs, oatmeal, and ice cream. The dogs will get walked. If there's a writing assignment, I'll do it quickly and efficiently. If no work comes my way, maybe I'll wash the car. That's probably enough for a Monday. If something surprising happens, you'll be the first to know.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2464

A client wanted some advice about where to host his website. He gave me a price for 32 years and asked me if it was a good deal. I've been doing this for a long time, but I'd never heard of anyone wanting to renew a hosting agreement for 32 years at a time. I did the math and converted the price to a more normal 3 or 5 year contract. OK. The price was in the ball park. Later in the day the client said he'd made a typo and the price was actually just for 3 years. Oops. That changes everything. The price suddenly seemed insanely high. You've got to watch those typos.

This error on the client's part must have been an omen, because my own day was filled with a host of little errors and few of them worked out in my favor. After cleaning a poop soiled rug that took an inordinately long time to dry, I put it down on the floor again and within five minutes Dot pooped on the same rug all over again.

I went up on the roof to mark the bad spots for the roofers and discovered a lot of brand new areas where the elastometric coating was peeling away. The roof had deteriorated further over the weekend. Some of the new damage was on patches that had been applied less than a month ago. This is not good. I really need an entirely new roof, but it is going to be very difficult to convince the roofer that the roof is fundamentally defective.

I finally got around to opening the package of printer ink I'd ordered recently and discovered that the company had sent me the wrong ink. Now, instead of just installing the cartridges in the printer, I will need to return the ink and have my supplier reship the correct cartridges. The supplier apologized and said they ship me replacement cartridges today, but this was one more instance where something that should have been easy turned into something difficult.

When I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, one of my refills was on back order, so I'll need to go back again tomorrow. This wasn't a big deal, but it made me tired. I don't like taking these pills in the first place. Somebody ought to make the whole process easier. It seems like I'm always asking doctors to renew prescriptions or returning to the pharmacy to pick up something that the automatic refill process said was ready. I just need to resign myself to the fact that nothing is going to work flawlessly ever again. The world is broken.

Dash woke me up coughing last night and Janet and I were both worried that he had kennel cough. Dot is so fragile now that the last thing we need is for her to get sick. I made a mental not to call the vet, but this morning everything seemed fine. Dash hasn't coughed all day. I don't know what was going on last night, but my theory is that he ate a frog when he went out to pee last night. Our yard has been full of frogs and toads lately and the dogs are very curious about them.

I have a lot of little chores on my to-do list for tomorrow. I hope at least a few of them go smoothly.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2267

The last thing we need is an extra Monday. I know how leap year works mathematically, but still it seems weird to add an extra day to the year every four years. Personally, I wish all twelve months had 28 days. If each month was divided into four equal weeks, it might be easier for me to remember when to give Dot her pills. It might be easier to remember my own meds as well. It's all about remembering things these days.

I think a set a record for doing laundry today. Dot pooped while she was eating her dinner. Food was simultaneously going in one end and coming out the other. It didn't seem to bother Dot as all. Luckily, I was holding up her rear end with the Help 'Em Up Harness, so the mess wasn't that bad. About an hour after she ate, Dot went back to sleep on her blanket and threw up. I actually think she just burped after drinking too much water, but it was a mess just the same. Once again, it could have been much worse. She hadn't taken her expensive Palladia pills yet, so her chemotherapy wasn't wasted. I waited another hour before giving her the pills, and so far everything seems fine.

The road repairs in the neighborhood seem to reach some sort of crescendo today. There were lots of new people on the job and several pieces of heavy equipment I hadn't seen before. Maybe all the preparations are done and they are finally ready to pave the road. Whatever they were doing, it sure was noisy.  Dash and I avoided the road on our evening walk. If tar was involved in today's activities, Dash would inevitably get some on his paws. I've already had enough messes to clean up today. I certainly didn't want to have to remove road tar from a dog's paws.

There were more website updates to make today. Most companies have finally realized the futility of putting their employees on the company website, but animal rescue websites still change on a weekly basis. There are always new animals to add and others to remove as they become adopted. It is simply astounding how many homeless animals there are. I only work with a few rescue groups in a single city, but I must have created thousands of pages to bring attention to abandoned dogs and cats who were waiting for their forever homes.

I got an e-mail today telling me that a mutual acquaintance had died. We were about the same age. People my age seem to be dying with disturbing regularity now. I'm always glad when someone takes the time to let me know. I'm not a member of any tight knit group of friends, so a lot of people I've known over the years simply disappear. I hope someone will take the time to let people know when my time comes. Nobody wants to be forgotten.

I sure wish I could get more sleep. Everything from taking care of the dogs to writing this blog takes longer now. By the time I've finally caught up with everything, it's usually near midnight. This would be fine if I could sleep until 8 or 9 the next morning, but we always get up early. Last night I couldn't get the blog to syndicate properly and had forgotten to put the spare dog blankets in the dryer. There always needs to be a spare set ready to go in case there is an accident during the night. For some reason, I couldn't find the retainer I need to wear while I sleep either. There's always something. Did I turn the dishwasher on? Did I empty the dehumidifier? Did I remember to run a test print to keep the big printer from clogging? I'm sure I'll forget something tonight. I always do.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2106

How many electricians does it take to change a light bulb? In my case, it takes three. There is a boss electrician to tell the other two what to do. There is the guy who climbs up the ladder and actually does the work. And there is the guy who walks back and forth to the truck to bring tools to the guy on the ladder. This is one of the reasons why electricians are so expensive. Plumbers are kind of the same way. Every time I call a plumber to do something simple like clean out a drain, they send out two plumbers.

Does it really require three electricians to change a security light? I doubt it. I'll still uses these guys again though. I like to support small, local businesses. There aren't enough of them left. If more people followed this inefficient, old school business model, there would still be plenty of jobs for everyone. Ruthless efficiency is what has killed the job market. I used to have assistants for what I do as well. Did I really need an assistant? Of course not, but this was how people learned their trade.

Maybe the security light was too expensive, but it's bright and works great. Now I won't have to worry about stepping in poop when I take the dogs out at night. The irritating flickering is gone too. The head electrician told me that the only thing wrong with my old light is that the ballast was bad. I suspected as much. Nevertheless, it was less expensive to replace the entire light than it would have been to take the old one apart and repair it. That's what we've come to. Almost everything is disposable.

My car isn't disposable, so I'll have to take it in for service to get rid of the irritating suspension squeak I've been hearing lately. Land Rover has become so computerized that they are almost the exact opposite of my old fashioned electrician. It's hard to actually talk to a real person anymore. Although it's much easier to make a service reservation online, I still prefer talking to the service representative myself. I finally managed to get someone on the phone this afternoon and made a service appointment. "When my car goes over a bump," I told the service guy, "I hear a high pitched noise that sounds exactly like a dog's squeaky toy." "I've heard that noise," the service guy said. "Bring the car in." If experience is any guide, this will turn out to be a very expensive squeak, but at least the car is still under warranty.

I woke up this morning to discover that Dot had pooped in the hallway. I must have been tired last night, because I didn't hear a thing. Luckily, I'm getting better at anticipating these things. She pooped on a strategically placed rubberized mat that is very easy to clean. Even though she had already done her business, Dot still enjoyed her morning walk. We are all learning to take these accidents in stride. I do worry that the washing machine is going to break again. It's been getting a lot of use lately.

It's been a fairly productive Monday. The light in the back yard is fixed. I've picked up Dash's prescriptions at the vet. The squeak in my car will soon be gone. I've updated two of my client's websites and finally paid the last of my September bills without becoming overdrawn. In my book, that's pretty good for a Monday.

Rover is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1980

I had to renew some prescriptions today and a bottle of pills that cost me $30 last month suddenly increased to $160. Yes, I've entered the so called doughnut hole again. Part-D prescription drug plans have always seemed overly complex to me. There are six or seven different categories of drugs, each with it's own co-pay rate, and then there are three different benefit stages that plan members must navigate during your plan year. You start out with a reasonable co-pay, then after you've received a certain amount of benefits, you enter the doughnut hole, where rates skyrocket for a while. If you keep refilling your prescriptions, you eventually reach what they call the catastrophic coverage stage, where you pay next to nothing for your meds. I know the government is trying to save money, but do they really need to make things so complicated? Wouldn't it be much simpler to just have a somewhat higher co-pay all year long and keep the coverage constant? I feel the same way about taxes. A simple flat tax would be so much easier for everyone.

It was strange to see blue skies this morning as we walked the dogs. I haven't seen the sun for quite a while, so today's mild weather was a welcome treat. The dogs enjoyed the sunshine as much as I did, and Dot had one of her best days in a long time. We walked up and down several hills and she got some much needed exercise. Since the long range weather forecast is still predicting rain for the remainder of the week, I thought I'd take advantage of this rare clear day to mow the grass. The grass had grown so rapidly as a result of almost a month of solid rain that I had to raise the mower blades a bit. At the regular setting, the thick grass was just too much for the little mower.

It was pretty busy for a Monday. In addition to going to the pharmacy and mowing the grass, I began working on my first mobile website for an actual client. My initial efforts are nothing to write home about, but I'm definitely making progress. Two months ago I didn't even know what responsive web design was. Since I'll probably eventually have to redesign every site I manage, I'm trying to tackle the easy problems first. If this goes well, I'll try something a little more difficult next time.

All the rain we've been having must be causing the foundation to shift a bit. The screen door at the back of the house is getting sticky again and this morning I watched a ceramic tile in the bathroom crack right in front of my eyes. I thought I'd superglue the chipped tile back together again and ended up gluing my fingers together in the process. I need to make a mental note that nail polish remover does not work to remove superglue from skin. Acetone does work though. Luckily, I had a small bottle of acetone in the utility room, or my thumb and forefinger would still be stuck together.

The dogs immediately started barking this morning when they saw me get the bananas out for my breakfast smoothie. They wanted to make sure that I remembered to save a banana for them. I didn't forget the dogs, but in the confusion of the moment, I did forget to add the eggs to my smoothie. Oh, well. This morning's concoction probably wasn't as nutritious as it should be, but it still tasted good. At least the dogs were happy. In addition to remembering to add eggs tomorrow, I need to remember to take my car to the dealership. I have an appointment to get the wheel fixed that I damaged hitting a large pothole. Hopefully, I won't hit another pothole driving up to the dealership. The roads are really that bad.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1966

I called the dentist today to see whether I might have a dry socket. "Do you have a fever," the nurse asked? Nope. "Is there a foul smell or bad taste in your mouth?" Nope. "Are you in excruciating, unbearable pain?" Not really. "Well, you don't have a dry socket," she told me. When I mentioned that there was still a lot of discomfort, I'm surprised that she didn't tell me to "just deal with it."

My photo assignment today was documenting a veterinary dental procedure.  The dog that was having her teeth cleaned experienced a very rare allergic reaction to the anesthesia and had a sudden and rather serious loss of blood pressure. The mood in the operating room immediately went from routine to emergency status. I was very impressed at how quickly and calmly the veterinarian and her two assistants dealt with this life threatening situation. In less than a minute, countermeasures had been taken to restore blood pressure and stabilize the dog. As soon as a strong pulse was re-established, the anesthesia was quickly withdrawn in what is known as a "hard wake up" procedure. The dog is fine now, but still has terrible looking teeth. I don't know how she's going to get her teeth cleaned now. If I had seen all this before my own dental surgery, I would have freaked out. My biggest worry before having my wisdom teeth extracted had always been that something would go wrong with the anesthesia. Ironically, the veterinary clinic used exactly the same monitoring equipment as the dental surgeon did.

Today was very busy for a Monday. In addition to the photo shoot, I had some extensive website revisions to make and a large banner to prepare for printing. A new writing assignment came in toward the end of the day, but I'll have to deal with that tomorrow. Increasingly, I'm finding that I have difficulty getting everything done during the day. There just isn't enough time. Dot doesn't walk far in the morning's, but she walks very, very slow. I'm eating slower, because it's hard to chew. Nobody likes to talk on the phone anymore, so I'm spending a lot more time answering client's questions via e-mail. I wish simple questions didn't require complicated answers, but frequently they do.

Tomorrow will be a mess because the power company tree trimming crews have finally arrived in our alley. Dot always goes into a barking frenzy when she sees all these trucks and hears the chain saws. Hopefully, I can pen her in the office with me so she won't be distracted by all the activity behind the back yard fence, but I don't think it's going to work. Once the barking starts, it's very difficult to stop. In addition to all the noise they make, these tree trimmers have a history of butchering the large Live Oak trees in the back yard. They always trim way more than they need to and the trees look horrible when they're finished. There's nothing I can do to stop these guys. The power company has eminent domain over anything that gets close to the power lines and, like it or not, they have the legal authority to ruin my trees. They've done it before and they'll do it again.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be less hectic than it was today. I'll need to run up to Fastsigns and pick up the banner order I called in today. There's the new article to write, and one more website to update. Lord know long it will take to get all the food particles out of my teeth.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1755

Yay! We've got power again. The repair crew arrived in the neighborhood while Janet and I were returning from our Sunday morning walk with Dot and Dash. The five large trucks and twelve man repair crew were greeted like a liberating army. Some neighbors offered the men coffee and others brought donuts. Everybody said a sincere thank you to the crew for not forgetting about us. After we saw the big trucks, we all knew we would have power by the end of the day.

I had no idea how long it would actually take to get power restored, so I drove up the street to pick up a take-out breakfast and some coffee. By the time I returned with the food, the lights were on again and our ordeal was over. You realize very quickly in situations like these that modern society is completely dependent on electricity. Things go downhill very quickly without power. People get grumpy. Store shelves quickly empty of essential items like batteries and food that does not require refrigeration. Knowledge workers are dead in the water without the computers, servers and phone systems they depend on. I'm still wondering what happened on Saturday's new Dr. Who episode. I can't tell you how many people I saw using their cars to recharge their cell phones during the outage. Most people would readily burn several gallons of gas while their car was idling in the driveway than risk their phone going dead. Without our phones, we are lost.

I remember reading once that during the cold war, Russia hardened most of its power grid by burying the electric cables underground. For some reason the United States didn't bother to do the same and now we are paying the price. Our entire power grid is an aging, very insecure, mess. If electric cars like the Tesla ever become popular, there will probably be brownouts every night as the population recharges their cars for the next day. I hope someone in Washington realizes the importance of improving the power grid. ISIS doesn't need to go around chopping off people's heads. All they need to bring the country to its knees is turn off the electricity for a month.

Having power again inspired Janet and I to try to get a grip on the mess that was engulfing the house. We cleaned the refrigerator and started over with fresh food. I bought some new bath towels to replace the old dingy ones that were an embarrassment to take to the laundromat yesterday. I got out the big step ladder and finally summoned the energy to get the big heavy flight case for my synthesizer off a high shelf so I could pack it up and take it to the storage warehouse. The Beta-SP video equipment went to the storage warehouse as well. As important as this stuff was to my business at one time, I know it will never be used again.

I've still got a ton of work to catch up on, but it looks like Monday will just be another normal work day. If you were expecting something from me last Friday, I'm still working on it. I work pretty fast, so with any luck, the backlog will be gone by Wednesday. It's definitely back to oatmeal tomorrow. I think I've gained five pounds by eating out every single day since last Thursday. I really hope that we don't have a repeat of this mess later this Winter. I don't think the nice, dog friendly hotel where we sought refuge during a power outage last Winter will be an option any longer. Dog friendly hotels are usually very clear that if your dog destroys anything, you pay for it. I don't think they would welcome an old dog who has a tendency to pee on the bed.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1735

Did you realize that while you were sleeping, U2 downloaded their entire new album to every iPhone in the entire world. I didn't believe this until I looked at my own phone and sure enough, there it was. I didn't buy or download the album myself. It just appeared on my phone. The same album was on Janet's phone and on every other iPhone in the world. I don't know how much it cost Apple to pull off this little stunt. I don't even know how it benefits them. I will admit though that this was pretty impressive.

Today got off to a slow start, which wasn't surprising since it was a Monday. By the time I had finished walking the dogs and eating breakfast, it was already 10:30 AM. It must have rained at some point during the night because Dash got exceptionally muddy walking through the soft ground. I usually clean the dogs paws with a damp rag before I let them inside. This mud was too much for a rag though. I had to hose him down. Since this is Texas, by the time I took the dogs out again for their evening walk, the ground was almost completely dry.

The lab work I had done at Baylor last week came back completely normal. My liver is doing just fine. Now I have no excuse to discontinue the Statins and Niacin. I'll be the first to admit these drugs are probably effective in controlling cholesterol. I just don't like the side effects of waking up with a dry mouth in the middle of the night feeling like I'm on fire as the Niacin dilates all the tiny blood vessels near the surface of my skin. Also, ever since I've been taking these new meds, my nose has been dripping like I've got a low level cold. It's irritating, but I guess it's better than a heart attack.

I only had one website to update today, so it was a good day to do some bookkeeping and pay bills. I don't know how economists can continue to say that we have low inflation. The cost of virtually everything I use on a daily basis has gone up. Often it has gone up a lot. Food costs more. Utility bills are higher. Gasoline is higher. Insurance is higher. I could go on and on. Just about the only thing that is cheaper are consumer electronics, but how many flat screen TV's do you need?

Dot really seems to have turned the corner. She has been accident free for almost a full week now. I'm starting to let her sleep wherever she wants now as long as I'm in the house. This is probably a mistake, since dogs are so unpredictable, but Dot is a lot happier having free rein of the house. Janet says I spoil these dogs. Of course I do.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1728

I received a letter from my sister today telling me that her dog had died. Apparently, it had an undetected tumor very similar to Dot's abdominal cancer and the tumor ruptured. Very sad. I wonder why so many dogs end up having cancer at some point in their life. I've heard that up to 50% of all dogs eventually have some sort of cancer. I wonder why? Is it the food we feed our dogs these days? Is it the environment? Or are dogs just naturally predisposed to develop cancer? We were lucky to have caught Dot and Dash's cancer in time, but Janet and I have lost pets to cancer too. Spot died of cancer and so did Greta. Spot lived an additional three years after having surgery to remove the tumor, but it had already metastasized, so the cancer eventually returned. Greta never recovered from the surgery and died in the hospital.

Today was definitely a Monday. The day got off to a slow start and never picked up speed. I paid some bills, made some appointments for later in the week, and answered my mail, but that was about it. I was disappointed to discover that one of Dot's protective sleeping pads was wet when we woke up this morning, but then she made it through the rest of the day without another accident. Go figure. Things are definitely better than they were three weeks ago, but the road to recovery is certainly a rocky one. I'm still not sure if Dot's new medication is having any effect yet.

I must have exerted myself a little more than I thought I did at the gym yesterday. My arm has felt sore all day. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm falling apart. I need to go to the dentist. I need to have physical therapy for my dislocated shoulder. And I'd really like to stop taking the Statins my general practitioner has me taking to lower my cholesterol. I was fine with Zetia and Welchol, but the combination of Statins and time-release Niacin is driving me nuts. Taking large amounts of Niacin causes the small blood vessels to dilate and creates a flushing sensation that makes you feel like you're on fire. You are supposed to be asleep when this happens, but since the dogs wake me up a lot, I often have to deal with flushing. I wish the doctor would switch me back to my old meds, but every time I tell him how much I hate Statins, he tries to scare me with heart attack stories. This usually works. I know too many people my age who have already had a heart attack.

I wonder if it's normal to think about food so much. I'm not gaining weight and I don't eat all that much, but lately I spend more time thinking about what I'm going to eat next than about what I'm going to do next. For much of my life I've always had a big editing, photography, or music project that consumed my thoughts and time. I just don't find myself as interested in these things as I used to be. I sure do think about what's for dinner and what's for breakfast though. My dreams have changed too. I know they've changed, but unfortunately I forget them about ten seconds after I wake up. One day, maybe I'll remember these dreams and all will be revealed.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1722

It sure seemed like Monday today. That's what happens when you have a long weekend. Whatever day you return to work seems like Monday. It wasn't a terribly busy day but it had that unfinished quality about it that Monday's often do. I made an appointment at the Apple store to get the battery on my phone replaced. I have serious doubts that I'll actually get a battery installed tomorrow, but you've got to start somewhere. I also ordered a complete set of ink cartridges for the Epson 4880. I've never had all eight cartridges run out of ink at the same time before, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I don't know why I even bother with this printer anymore, since the ink is quite expensive. Maybe deep down I still have a desire to make large Giclée prints like I did six or seven years ago.

I don't think I'll ever sleep normally again. Even if we do end up giving Dot pills to help control her incontinence, we won't ever be able to completely trust her again. Accidents happen. Since I don't have the heart to make Dot sleep in a crate away from the rest of the family, I am resigned to spending extra time every evening preparing the bed with a vinyl drop cloth under several layers of protective pads. The dogs actually like the protective pads that Janet sewed for them, so we had to make one for Dash too. They have a soft terry cloth surface and a protective waterproof back, making them great little dog beds. Every evening they go on the bed and every morning they come off again. There is a spare pad in case there is an accident during the night. I think we've thought of everything. It's just very time consuming.

I need to get a second opinion about my shoulder. I've been putting off doing this forever, since I'm afraid I'll be told that I need surgery. I really don't want surgery on my shoulder, but I don't want an arm I can't lift above my head either. Also, I'm sure that just about any doctor would tell me that the first thing I need to do is stop walking the dogs with a dislocated shoulder. That's just not an option. I don't like hospitals either. Increasingly, hospitals are where you go to get sick, instead of to get better. Just about everyone I know who has had to go to the hospital recently has ended up getting some sort of infection from all the antibiotic resistant germs that infest hospitals these days. My health plan basically consists of avoiding sick people and it seems to work pretty well. My shoulder still hurts though, so I'm faced with a dilemma.

I wonder if the watchmaker has finished with my watch yet? It's not that I need it or anything. Picking it up would just give me something to do on a dead day. Tomorrow I've got my appointment with the Genius Bar folks at the Apple store. Thursday is Dot's physical therapy day. Maybe I'll call the watchmaker on Friday and see what's going on. It's nice to have at least one thing to do every day.

In case I give the impression that I'm sitting around idle, I'm not. There are still plenty of website revisions and updates each and every day. These are getting too boring to write about though, so you won't hear much about these in the future. The fact that I prefer to tell you about dog pee than what I'm currently doing at work tells you all you need to know about my business. Maybe it is time to retire.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day