Day 1836 - Christmas Day

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas. We slept in late and probably would have slept even later if the dogs hadn't insisted on their morning walk. The skies were clear for a change and the park was virtually empty. Even the joggers and cyclists were home this morning. There were plenty of ducks and squirrels though, so Dot and Dash had a great time. Dot seemed stronger and more active today, so maybe the Rimadyl is working.

We had a nice leisurely breakfast when we got home and then we the took the dogs to the dog park. This used to be a Christmas tradition, but for a variety of reasons we haven't been able to go for several years. Last year, Janet was out of town visiting relatives and the year before we had terrible weather. Today was beautiful though and both dogs were eager for an outing. I wish the traffic was always as light as it is on Christmas Day in Dallas. It seems to be the one day each year where most of the stores close. Merchants seem to ignore Thanksgiving and Easter now, but Christmas still seems to be a day of rest. Driving through the virtually empty streets, I realized that I would enjoy living in a big city a lot more if there weren't any people.

The dog park was fairly empty too. Only die hard dogs enthusiasts make going to a dog park a priority on Christmas morning. Dot and Dash enjoyed mingling with the eight or ten other dogs in the park until a guy arrived with a pit bull who was a bit too aggressive for our taste. I've got nothing against pit bulls or any other breed, but I'm always a bit wary of powerful, poorly trained dogs who aren't well supervised by their owners. Things can escalate quickly when the owner isn't in control. This guy wasn't paying attention to his dog at all and kept telling people to slap it on the butt if it was bothering them. The dog was way too interested in Dot and was getting aggressive, so we left early and went home. I wish there was a way to keep people from bringing unruly and aggressive dogs to public dogs parks, but for the most part, these place operate on the honor system. You take your chances and just hope that all the other people in the park with you are nice.

When we got home again, the house was quickly filled with delicious smells as Janet began to prepare Christmas dinner. The dogs both took a nap near the kitchen, so they would be nearby in case scraps of food fell on the floor. Since it was a nice day, I went up on the roof and removed several weeks of rain water and leaves. It's been windy lately, so most of the leaves are gone from the trees by now. From now through Spring the troublesome roof should be a bit easier to manage.

Dinner was a delicious feast. The dogs got a boiled chicken breast as a Christmas treat, while Janet and I enjoyed a crown roast of pork with traditional holiday side dishes of sweet potatoes, dressing, and noodle kugel. There was even a fresh pumpkin pie for dessert. Opening our gifts was almost an afterthought. We have everything we need these days, so the day is mostly about relaxing and enjoying some time with the dogs.

Tomorrow, it's back to work for both of us. Even though it was Christmas Day, I still remembered to take the trash out to the curb this evening. You never want to forget about trash day.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1808 - Thanksgiving

It was such a nice day. We slept in late and then took the dogs on a leisurely walk along the lake. Entire families were walking their dogs this morning. Maybe this has become a Thanksgiving ritual for some. It was certainly a nice day for walking your dog. The sky was blue and the air was crisp and cool. Dot and Dash loved it. While the dogs took their afternoon nap, we went down to the Warwick Hotel for our Thanksgiving dinner. The service was great and the food was delicious. There was a table filled with fresh shrimp, crab legs, and sushi. Another table was filled with over a dozen delicious salads. We could have made a meal out of the appetizers, but we needed to save room for prime rib, candied yams, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce and all the other stables of a Thanksgiving feast. As Thanksgiving buffets go, this was one of the better ones. Everyone has lots of meat on Thanksgiving, but the Warwick made a point of making sure that the vegetables and side dishes that went with your meal were exceptionally fresh and creative. They didn't rush you either. Our leisurely meal lasted until almost 3 PM.

When we got home, we took the dogs to their favorite dog park. Dot and Dash hadn't been to the dog park since they had cancer. That was almost a year ago. I think the last time we went to the dog park was last January, just before Dash's thyroid surgery. I had forgotten how much Dash loves to be off-leash and play with other dogs. You could tell he really missed the park and was delighted to be back. He raced around to show us how fast he was and quickly found another dog to play with. Dot was more sedate, but she had fun as well, quietly smelling things and following us around. There were many reasons we waited so long. While Dash was having radiation and chemo treatments, he was quite weak and we were afraid some of the other dogs would sense the weakness and attack him. Dot is just too frail to roughhouse with other dogs anymore, but we knew the park wouldn't be crowded since it was Thanksgiving and there was also a Cowboys game in the afternoon. All in all, it was a perfect day to return to the dog park. Dot and Dash were certainly happy, especially when they discovered we had saved them some turkey from our Thanksgiving meal.

Janet doesn't have to work tomorrow, so I suspect that we'll have another leisurely day with the dogs. From the number of e-mails I received this morning, I suspect that some of my workaholic clients were actually working today. At least they weren't pressuring me with deadlines. I do have work to do, but I'd like to savor the holiday a bit longer. There's plenty of time for work, but it isn't everyday that you get to enjoy seeing your once shy dog rediscover how much fun it is to play with other dogs.

Janet and I talked a bit about retirement during dinner. She'll be retiring soon and is looking forward to it. I can't decide whether I retired twenty years ago, or will keep working forever. My life is pretty amorphous. I quit actively looking for new business quite a while ago, but continue to work with clients who have become friends over the years. It's not a bad life. When Janet retires, I imagine that we'll spend more days like today; eating out a lot and playing with dogs. More days like today is OK.

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1531

Dot and Dash had a great day. Our mild Springlike weather continues, making it possible to give the dogs several long walks, in addition to the trip to the dog park they'd both been anticipating. It was beautiful today. The redbud and dogwood trees are already starting to bloom, and if you looked closely, you could see tiny green buds on most of the other trees as well. I hope all this early growth isn't cut short by a final hard freeze, but it usually is. That's just the nature of things in Texas.

When the dogs had finished smelling every tree at the dog park, we came home and I finished the writing assignment that threw me a curve yesterday. It all seemed to go smoothly this time and within an hour I was ready to go to the gym.

I think my shoulder might be as good as it's going to get. I was able to go back to my old workout routine this afternoon and everything seemed fine. The shoulder still hurt, but it hurt before the injury too. The important thing was that it was able to bear weight and wasn't falling out of the socket anymore. I'm more careful now and try not to do things that would pull my right arm away from my body. All in all, I think it is better to stay active. If I babied the shoulder too much and did nothing, it would probably be worse on my body in the long run than what I'm doing now.

Janet fixed cheeseburgers for dinner. I did eat a kale salad as a token gesture to good health, but that was about it. There are few things better than a good cheeseburger and fried onion rings. It's not the healthiest thing in the world, but you could do a lot worse. Good lean beef, artisan cheddar cheese, some fresh heirloom tomato slices, and a little arugula on a freshly  baked whole grain bun. That sounds healthy doesn't it?  There's got to be more to life than oatmeal and kale. If I can ever get my liver working properly again, I might even enjoy the ocassional glass of wine with dinner again. That would be nice.

Tomorrow is the big day. We can't feed Dash anything after 10 PM tonight, since he will probably have to be anesthetized for his CAT scan tomorrow. I'm trying to keep an open mind, since almost anything could happen. Depending on what the oncologist finds, he could come home with a bottle of pills to take for a week and be good to go, or he could be rushed into emergency surgery. I don't know how parents with small children handle these situations as well as the do. We've had a lifetime of different Dalmatians, and I always remember the medical emergencies the most vividly. Spot had a tumor inside his spinal cord and I thought he might be paralyzed for life. It was a long, tough surgery, but he bounced back to lead a normal life. Much later, he was back on the operating table again with intestinal cancer. A six inch section of his small intestine was removed and he survived that as well. Petey almost died after he got pancreatitis from eating a duck's foot he found in the park. Greta did die after liver surgery failed to completely eliminate the cancer that was growing there. I'm hoping for the best with Dash. He had a very tough life before we rescued and adopted him. We promised him that things would be better now, and we'll continue to do our best to keep that promise.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1524

Dash is a smart dog. When he was having his incontinence problems recently, he learned that if he scratched at the back door with his paw, we would come running to let him out. That little scratching noise would wake me from a sound sleep, because I knew that if I didn't get there in time, Dash would poop in the house. Now that Dash is completely better, he has remembered what a quick response he gets from scratching at the back door. Now he scratches at the back door whenever he wants anything. It's irritating. Since his bowels have been a bit unpredictable as long as he's been with us, I still come running, only to discover that Dash has cleverly gotten me out of bed for a dog treat or an early walk. He has become particularly bad with this behavior on weekends when the rest of the family likes to sleep in a little longer. Although Dash spends half his life sleeping, he apparently doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in. Sunday's are a great time to sleep in, but Dash was determined to get us out of bed and walking in the park by 6:30 AM. Eventually he won this battle.

It was a nice day, but Dash still should have cut us a little slack. Would it kill him to sleep a little longer on Sunday morning? Jeez, doesn't he know that he gets to go to the dog park on Sunday's anyway? At any rate, the day got off to an earlier start than I had hoped, but it wasn't a bad day. The dogs got their walk. Everybody had a nice breakfast. Janet and I did a few chores around the house. And then we all went to the dog park.

On days like these, you can be easily fooled into thinking that Spring has already arrived. Almost every year, there is a week in February when the weather is so nice that trees start to bud and a few hardy flowers begin to poke through the soil. Inevitably, just when things are starting to look green, there is a final Winter freeze that kills all the early growth. It happened last year, and it will probably happen again this year. That's just the way it is in Texas. Eventually, it all gets sorted out and by April the meadows behind our house are thick with wildflowers. April and May are usually wonderful, but by June I will be complaining again about how hot Texas gets in the Summer.

I made it back to the gym this afternoon and started doing some of my old routines again. It's amazing how quickly a few idle weeks can throw you off your stride. It hasn't been that long, but I can already tell that my strength and endurance aren't as good as they used to be. The shoulder still hurts a bit, but the inflamation is all gone, so I think it's time to start working on the muscles again. If I waited for my shoulder to feel completely normal again, I'd be waiting for a long, long time. It's never going to be completely normal again.

Janet has the day off tomorrow. I hope she decides it's a lazy day instead of a housecleaning day.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1517

I'm surprised that the city didn't close the dog park today. It was sure pretty muddy when we arrived after breakfast. I'm glad they left it open though, because Dot and Dash both had a great time. Dash even found a playmate, a little black dog who seemed determined to show Dash how fast he was. It was fun seeing Dash lose his fearfulness for a moment and race around the park with his new found companion. After about 45 minutes, both dogs were ready to come home again and they spent the rest of the day curled up on their dog beds.

I returned to the gym this afternoon for the first time since my shoulder injury. I didn't attempt to do any lifting or upper body exercises. All I wanted to do today was burn calories and the treadmill worked fine for that. I hadn't spent much time on the treadmill before, and discovered that all the dog walking I do has actually been keeping me in pretty good shape. Thirty minutes on the treadmill is a lot easier than twenty minutes on the hand bicycle. It was interesting to see that if you control your breathing, your heart rate actually goes down, even if you are moving along at a pretty good clip. I need to figure out how to return to doing upper body exercises without destroying my shoulder all over again. Endurance I've got. It's strength that I need. Muscle atrophy is real as you get older. Dot is experiencing it, and so am I.

I tried to get a head start on my February invoices today. I'm so busy during the workweek now that's it's hard to find time for things like this. Invoices are important though. If I don't send them out, I don't get paid. It would be nice to go after some new, and possibly more interesting, business. This doesn't seem to be in the cards though. It's all I can do to keep up with the business I already have. Every day is more or less the same. I get up. I walk the dogs. I eat breakfast. I write an article. I feed the dogs lunch. I take a shower. I update my clients websites. I write another article. I feed the dogs dinner and walk them again. I eat my own dinner. I write my daily blog post. And I go to bed.

This is exactly what will happen tomorrow, with one small addition. We take the dogs to the vet early in the morning before they have their breakfast so they can both have blood tests. We need to to find out whether Dash has a vitamin-B deficiency and Dot just needs recent blood-work before we get her teeth cleaned. If the dogs aren't having a blood test, chances are that I am. My next test is on the 20th to see if the new Hepatitis-C medicine is working.

I was hoping for another sunny day today, but all I got was an absence of rain. The day started out pretty warm, but the temperature continued to drop as the day progressed. By morning, the chances are high that we will have returned to Winter again. Back and forth between the temperature extremes we go. I don't even think the ground hog could have predicted this.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1503

On our walk today, the dogs and I passed two hikers wearing surgical masks, a little further down the trail we saw someone nailing a big cardboard sign to a tree with a magic marker message that simply said FOUND TOOTH. There was no explanation of who lost the tooth in the first place, or why finding it was important. On our way home we passed three Japanese girls creating an elaborate tableau in the woods out of red and white paper lanterns and crepe paper. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Did I mention that it was a very nice day? On a nasty day none of this nonsense would be taking place. In inclement weather, the dogs and I pretty much have the park to ourselves.

We also saw a lot of people in hammocks this afternoon. When did spending the afternoon in a hammock become trendy?  I see people spending forever carefully stringing a hammock between two trees with rope, and then as soon as they are situated inside the hammock, they get out their phones and begin texting someone. Is this today's equivalent of communing with nature. I don't get it.

Admittedly, I don't get much these days. Somewhere in another room of house I hear the Grammy Awards playing on a TV. I used to really like the Grammys but I seldom watch the show anymore. I just don't understand the appeal of performers like Macklemore. Is this even music? About the only thing that will stop me from channel flipping when I hear music on TV lately is when I accidentally encounter one of those Kennedy Center extravaganzas where they are giving a lifetime achievement award to a group like Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin. Where is this generation's Stairway to Heaven or Welcome to the Machine? I haven't heard it yet.

Dot and Dash had a great time at the dog park today. The temperature got up to 73 degrees and it was warm enough to wear shorts. Shorts in January is almost always preferable to ice storms in January. I did a little yard work when we got home from the dog park, and then I went to the gym. After my regular workout, I shot free-throws for a while. I have no interested in basketball as a game, but I'm fascinated by throwing free-throws. To consistently dunk the ball time-after-time, you have to perfect your hand-eye coordination. The tiniest little deviation will send the ball to the left or the right. I still haven't been able to shoot five "nothing but net" free-throws in a row, but I'm getting closer.

Has anyone noticed that I've passed the 1500 day mark? 1500 posts in a row without missing a single day ever is somewhat of an achievement. It's an odd little achievement, but it would be hard for someone to duplicate. The blog is slowly but surely becoming popular. Most people just read it on Facebook or Google+, but at least they read it somewhere. Probably by the time I reach Day 5000, people will be placing bets in Vegas on what the final day number will be. It won't be tomorrow. That's for sure. Tomorrow is just another day filled with blood tests and boring assignments. Mondays always make Tuesdays look exciting.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1478 - New Year's Day

Some people think that what you do on New Year's Day foretells what you'll be doing for the rest of the year. I certainly hope that isn't the case. I thought I'd organize a growing pile of healthcare records in a ring binder this afternoon. It took a lot longer that I thought to decide which records to keep and which I could throw away. When I started to shred the throw away pile, I realized that the paper shredder was jammed and completely full. I took the machine apart and cleaned it out, which took longer than I thought as well. When I got this task finished, I got out the vacuum cleaner to clean up my mess and discovered that the bag was completely full. I knew I had more vacuum cleaner bags somewhere, but once again it took a lot longer than I thought to find them. This was kind of how the entire day went, as one easy task after another morphed into something more difficult than I anticipated.

The dogs, on the other hand, might have a great year to look forward to in 2014. The first thing they did on New Year's Day was go to the dog park. The weather was perfect, there were no aggressive dogs in the park, and Dot and Dash both had a great time. They've been waiting for this outing since November, so we spent a long time at the park, letting them both get a lot of pent up energy out of their system. Dot was surprisingly strong today. Even though we take things one day at a time with Dot, it is always gratifying to see her defy the odds and act like a much younger dog.

Eating pork on New Year's Day is supposed to bring you luck. We had pork ribs for dinner, so who knows. I'm not superstitious, but I do love ribs. I'll take good luck whenever I can get it. I didn't have any chicken today either. They say eating poultry on New Year's Day will bring poverty in the year ahead. You're not supposed to wash clothes today either, but that's going a bit too far.

Maybe in a week or two, I'll get back on schedule again. It's seems like Sunday evening, but it's really just hump day and we've got two more work days before the weekend. Dot has her acupuncture session tomorrow, although it is usually today. On Friday, I usually go out for breakfast, but I already did that on Tuesday. It's all very confusing. I wonder if 2014 will be a good year. 2013 was a mess, although the stock market did surprisingly well. If we learned anything last year, it would be that it is totally pointless to try to predict the future.

I wonder if the weather on New Year's Day is a harbinger of what's to come as well. It would be nice if that were the case. The weather was fantastic today. The sky was clear, there was no wind, and the temperature got up to 70 degrees. Pretty nice for a Winter's day.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1447

Our favorite dog park is slowly but surely becoming just like all the other dog parks in Dallas. Aggressive dogs used to be a rarity at this park, but now we encounter one almost every week. More and more people don't even bother to clean up after their dogs and the once pristine grass is now a mine field of poop. Even though the park is huge, the people with nice dogs tend to congregate in one corner, staying far away from the unruly dogs and their inattentive owners in the other corner. The problem isn't the dogs. It's the people. It's always the people.

It's hard to believe it's December already. This entire year has gone by in a blur of uneventful days. I haven't really accomplished much this year. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself though. In today's topsy-turvy world, just staying afloat is a major accomplishment.

We put up the Christmas decorations this weekend. These items are so old and familiar now that the dogs don't pay any attention to them. We no longer worry about a dog knocking over the Christmas tree or wiping the coffee table clean with a casual wag of the tail. Dot and Dash ignored everything this year, with the exception of of two bright red Christmas blankets we got for each of their dog beds. They immediately knew the blankets were for them, and they approved.

Although Sunday may be a bad day to go to the grocery store, it has turned out to be a great day to go to the gym. I love going to the gym on Sunday, because I practically have the cavernous hall to myself. There's no rush either. I can stay as long as I like, without any worries about being late for whatever is next on the agenda.

I guess I'm going to have to resign myself to printing something small every day. It seems wasteful to print a photo and just throw it away, but my Epson representative assures me that this will be far more economical than wasting tons of expensive ink every month trying to unclog the lines. When I asked the Epson folks what the secret was to keeping this temperamental printer running reliably in the future, they told me "Just use it. It was meant to be used." This makes perfect sense. It just doesn't suit my needs. I'd like a printer I can use to make a single huge, beautiful Giclée print once every three or four months. My printer wasn't designed to do this. It was meant to be used in a production environment every day.

Nest week looks busy already. There are three new articles that need to be completed before the end of the week and a brand new website that needs to go live before the end of the year. There are doctors appointments and vet appointments on the calendar as well. One thing I won't be doing this month is Christmas shopping at the mall. When I discovered a few years ago that you could take care of everything with a few clicks on Amazon, that was the end of the mall. The only thing I go to the shopping mall for anymore is a haircut. I haven't figured out how to get a haircut on Amazon yet.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1433

I'll never figure out Texas weather. Less than a week ago the temperature was below freezing.  Today it was 90 degrees. I was so confused that I got out the lawn mower and mowed the grass again. It was actually a beautiful day, but it still seems awfully warm for late November. Some years we've has snow before this. We even turned on the air conditioner today. I didn't think I'd be doing that again until late next Spring.

The dogs certainly liked the warm weather. They were excited to see some of their friends from training class at the dog park today. They weren't so excited about their new harnesses, unfortunately. Somebody needs to invent a safety harness that actually works in the car. Dot and Dash either manage to wriggle out of their harnesses before we even get out of the driveway, or get stuck in them and force us to pull over to the side of the road to free them from a seat belt that has retracted and pinned them to the back of the car seat. Dot got stuck today. Dash is usually the one to wriggle out of his harness.

I was listening to one of those Ted Talks on NPR while I was driving to the gym this afternoon. The guy on the radio said the secret to happiness was in having low expectations. This thought startled me and on reflection seemed a bit profound. Most of the happy people I've met in my life had very low expectations. Conversely, the perfectionists and super achievers I've known generally weren't happy at all. The premise of this Ted Talk was that we have too many choices today. If we only have two or three choices, we just pick something and move on. When we have thirty choices, we agonize over making the right decision and are never happy with the result. With thirty choices, you just know that you could have picked something better. I'd never thought of things this way before, but it makes sense. Maybe I just have too many choices in my life.

Amazingly, everything got done today. The dogs got their visit to the dog park, all the shopping errands were completed, I even found time to hang the muslin Christmas photo backdrop out in the sun and spray it with Outright to get rid of the smell of dog pee. The nice looking front yard was a bonus. I wasn't even planning to mow the grass.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1404

The permanent plates for my new car arrived today and when I went up to the dealership to have them put on, I notice that my old Defender had a place of honor on the showroom floor. They'd waxed and polished the Defender 90, so it positively gleamed. You could have sworn that it was a brand new car, instead of one that was 17 years old. If I hadn't just sold this car a few weeks ago, it would have been very tempting to buy it. The Defender was, and still is, a very cool looking car.

The dogs are loving the near perfect Fall weather we've been having lately. The brisk, cooler temperatures have renewed their interest in taking long walks. On days like these, Dot thinks she has more energy than she actually has and I have to be careful not to let her walk too far. Dalmatians have no concept of moderation. They'll go full speed ahead until they get tired and then decide to go no further. This usually works pretty well, unless they decide they're tired when we're three miles from home.

After I got my license plates, I went to the grocery store and got gas. You won't hear me bragging about the new car's gas mileage. It gets terrible gas mileage. I spend the rest of the day doing little chores around the house. I vacuumed. I polished shoes. I cleaned the sheets and washed the car. It has finally gotten cold enough that I no longer need to mow the grass every week. One of the best things about Fall is that I seldom need to start the lawn mower.

After dinner this evening, Janet and I went to a neighborhood art show. One of Janet's friends turns her business into a gallery one a year and hosts new local artists. There was a nice crowd at the show, but I didn't recognize many people. I told Janet that I saw the lady who runs the local dog washing place we use, but when we went up to say hello, it turned out to be our mailman instead. I'm not very good with faces.

Do any of you use Shutterstock? I"ve been submitting photos to iStockphoto for quite a while and thought I'd give Shutterstock a try as well. So far it's been an exercise in frustration. You have to get ten pictures accepted before you can become a contributing member. I typically get eight or nine accepted and then have to wait two weeks before I can submit again. You have to start over from scratch and submit ten more pictures with captions and keywords. You can only submit pictures that are 4 MP and larger. Usually my favorite pictures end up being 3.9 MP and are not eligible. The login process to the submissions site uses those irritating Captchas as well. I hate Captchas. I'm beginning to wonder if it's even worth the trouble to join Shutterstock. You certainly don't make a lot for each stock image you sell.

Tomorrow looks like it will be a carbon copy of today. This means Dash will get his wish and we'll all be going to the dog park again. I may try going to the gym again on Sunday as well. This certainly worked out pretty well last Sunday.

Diva is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1397

Janet asked if I would donate one of my old fine art photos to a charity auction she was involved with. The photo that had originally hung in a gallery show was long gone, but I though I might still have a duplicate print over at the storage warehouse. The storage warehouse used to be a repository for things that were too good to throw away and too useless to keep around the house. Now, it has just become a repository for mysterious objects that I don't even remember buying. I'm always surprised when I go to the storage room now. You just never know what you're going to find.

I eventually found the photo, along with a spare gallery frame to put it in. I found enough other forgotten photos to mount an entirely new show, but I think those days are gone. I'm just not that interested anymore.

I was interested in getting the dogs to the dog park today before the predicted rain ruined our opportunity. We'd never been to the park this early before, but it was still full of dogs and their owners. Maybe the others wanted to let their dogs play before the rain started too. Or maybe they just wanted to get their dog to the park before the big Texas Oklahoma football game started later in the morning. Dash was delighted to finally return to his favorite place and was a well behaved dog for the rest of the day.

I happened to see my old Defender on the Land Rover website today. They were asking almost double what they gave me in trade in for the car. Oh, well. I guess I knew I was selling the car wholesale, but still it was a bit startling to see it priced so high. I still feel like I made the right decision. I didn't feel comfortable driving the unreliable car anymore, so I guess it is irrelevant what someone else eventually pays for it.

Eventually it did rain today, but the afternoon shower was so brief that Dot didn't even notice it. I think she slept through the whole thing. By the time the dogs and I took our afternoon walk, the only evidence that it had rained at all were a few water drops on tree leaves. It certainly wasn't an eventful day, but it was a pleasant one.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1390

Dot was back at the vet this morning. She started vomiting during the night and continued throwing up until well after sunrise. If Dash throws up, it's generally safe to assume that he ate something he shouldn't have. Dot is a proper lady though. She almost never eats other dog's poop, garbage, or dead things in the park. When Dot gets sick, you've got to take it serious. I kept thinking that her vomiting might have something to do with her recent seizure, so we got her to the vet as soon as possible. We ran another battery of tests, but the results were largely inconclusive. All I can say for sure is that something is wrong.

I was still half asleep the first time Dot threw up. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get her out of the bed in time, so I cupped my hands into a bowl and used them to catch the first round of vomit. Unfortunately, I didn't know what to do with it after that. I couldn't open the toilet seat, since both of my hands were occupied. I ended up throwing the mess in the bathroom sink, which resulting in clogging it. It wasn't a good night.

Dot seems fine now, but to play it safe, I canceled going to the Dalmatian Rescue fundraiser and stayed home to watch over the dogs instead. It's a good thing I did. We're riding out an unexpected  thunderstorm right now, and leaving two seizure prone, storm phobic dogs home alone in this kind of weather is not a good idea.

In between today's rain and unexpected dog emergencies, I managed to get some grocery shopping done and did my best to get caught up with yesterday's unfinished website updates. There was a lot of laundry to do as well. There always is when a dog throws up in the bed. I re-washed all the blankets, comforters and sheets I had just cleaned a few days ago.

Who knows what tomorrow has in store for us. I sincerely hope nothing at all. It would be nice to get a good night's sleep tonight as well. Maybe if the rain clears up, we can all go to the dog park and enjoy the cooler weather in the morning. I think Fall is officially here. The leaves are all dropping off the trees and the temperature dropped 25 degrees today. Even though she is old and tired, Dot still loves the cooler weather. It makes smelling things off-leash at the dog park even better.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1377 - Autumnal Equinox

You couldn't have picked a better day for Fall to officially begin. Everything was picture perfect. The grass in the park is coming alive again after Friday's big rain. The sky was clear and free of haze. The temperature was in that rare sweet spot that makes opening the windows a pleasure. I just wish the days would stay this way a little longer. If memory serves, the rainy season is already just around the corner. I guess I ought to just relax and enjoy the Halcyon Days of Autumn while I can.

We had our first family drive in the new car today. Much to my relief, everyone likes the car. This hasn't always been the case. Once I bought a diesel Ford F-350 pickup and Janet and the dogs hated it so much that they refused to ride in it. I don't know what the dogs problem was, but Janet said the smell of diesel fumes made her sick. Hey, how was I to know? I always kind of liked the smell of diesel.

Janet told me that this was the best car that I've ever purchased. It shows you how long we've been together that she actually remembers four cars that came before the Defender. Dot and Dash seemed to approve as well. Finicky, car phobic Dash rode actually quite well on our trip to the dog park this morning. The only mishap was the humongous pile of dog hair in the car when we returned. I never really noticed dog hair in the Defender, since the interior was kind of the color of dog hair.  Since the interior of this car is black, the dog hair shows up quite well.

I watched a bit of the Emmy Awards on TV while we were eating dinner this evening and was appalled at the number of nominated shows I'd never even heard of. I guess I don't watch TV much anymore. I mostly watch TV to go to sleep at night and 50 year old shows like Perry Mason are perfect for this purpose. Just about the only current shows I enjoy are the British version of Top Gear and Dr. Who.

Even though I should have spent the entire day outdoors enjoying the near perfect weather, I did spend some time in the office, cleaning the large format printer. As I often do, I waited too long to run the cleaning cycle and ended up wasting half the new ink I bought last week. This printer always reminds me of the futility of so many things I attempt. I haven't given up on the printer though. I haven't given up on anything.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1369

I'm getting closer to buying a new car. I went back to the dealership this afternoon and got real prices on three different alternatives. It's been a while since I've done this, but one thing hasn't changed over the years. The actual drive-away price is quite a bit higher than the price you initially anticipate. By the time the dealer adds tax, title and license charges and an extended warranty, the sticker prices is suddenly thousands of dollars higher. If you're foolish enough to ask for something extra, like a towing package or a roof rack, all bets are off. I still think the time is right to trade the Defender while it still runs and the trade in value is high. I may need to rethink my original plan, however. I might not have the money to get the car I really want.

I don't know why I'm surprised. Given a choice, I'll always choose the most expensive, extravagant thing in the room. If wishes were horses, I'd be shooting all my videos using a Red Epic and stills with a Hasselblad H5D. Should I throw caution to the wind and get what I really want? Or should I be practical? This should be an easy decision, but it's not. On one hand, I could save my money for something more important in the future. On the other hand, if the money sits in the investment account too long, it will eventually find its way to another worthless stock that drops like a stone. At least a car could provide some temporary enjoyment.

Dogs don't seem to have these dilemmas.  Janet and I went up to photograph a new Dalmatian today, and the only thing this friendly girl seemed concerned about was where her next dog treat was coming from. I'm not sure if I got any good pictures. It was a hot day and the more pictures we took, the longer the dog's tongue seemed to get. I told her that she'd look much prettier with her mouth closed, but she didn't seem to agree.

It doesn't look like I can avoid mowing the grass much longer. This is the time of year when I try to convince myself that I'm mowing the grass for the last time this season. It usually keeps right on growing though. Sometimes I'm still mowing the grass in December.

Tomorrow, the dogs get their weekly trip to the dog park. There isn't much grass left at the dog park in September, but the dogs don't seem to care. They'd rather dig holes in the dirt anyway.

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1356 - Dot's Birthday

We don't actually know when our dogs were born, or how old they are. We celebrate their birthday on the day we adopted them, or if that doesn't work out, on the first weekend after their adoption day. By this convoluted logic, Dot's birthday is today. I think we actually adopted Dot on August 27, but this was the first day where there was time for a party.

Since the only gift a dog really appreciates is food, we wrapped up an assortment of dog biscuits and got a couple more doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. The dog treats were greatly appreciated, but we could have skipped today's trip to the dog park. It was simply too hot. The dogs walked around the park once, sat under a tree for a while, drank some water, and then we came home again. It was 106 degrees today.

I spent longer waiting in line at Sprinkles for the cupcakes than I did at the dog park this morning, but that's the way it goes on a hot day in Dallas. I guess when there's nothing better to do, you eat cupcakes. When I was waiting in line, I noticed the store was selling frosting without the cupcake. Strange. People were ordering the little cups of frosting and consuming them like shots of Tequila.  I've decided that the Sprinkles store is God's gift to the dentists of Dallas.

I finally got tired of seeing the Low Coolant light come on every time I started the Evoque, so I decided to fix the problem myself. I downloaded an Evoque owner's manual off the Internet and located the coolant overflow tank. I topped up the tank with the distilled water I use in the coffeemaker and started the engine. The low coolant warning doesn't appear anymore. Problem solved.

When we were taking our evening walk, a group of kids approached us and asked if they could take their picture with Dot and Dash. They said their school was producing The 101 Dalmatians Musical as their class play and wanted to use Dot and Dash in their promotional pictures. Sure, why not. I didn't mention that Dot and Dash had actually met the cast of the Broadway production and even got to meet Rachel York when she was playing the Cruella DeVil role in the show. The dogs get around, but they're not name droppers.

Sp[ot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1342

Now Dot is having problems. She stumbled getting out of the car at the dog park this morning. At first I thought her slight limp was the result of landing too hard as she jumped off the car seat. After a few minutes, she seemed just fine at the park. Later in the day though, she had periods where she seemed unsteady and confused. Occasionally she would have trouble getting up. Once, when she was standing, she almost toppled over and I had to rush to catch her. For the most part however, she seemed absolutely normal, with no limp or side effects whatsoever. I started to wonder if her neurological problems had returned and shortly after dinner, my fears were confirmed. After taking a nap, she couldn't get up at all.  I helped her stand and she tilted to one side like she had vertigo. I'm almost certain that she's had another seizure.

It's stressful knowing that either dog could have a seizure at any time. Dot's seizures are completely different than the ones Dash has too. His are quite violent and hers seem like someone just temporarily switched off her brain. When Dot has episodes like this, she has a vacant, non-responsive look and appears totally confused.  The vet says she may be experiencing vertigo during these episodes and loses her sense of balance. I'm going to try to get her to see a vet tomorrow and find out if the problem is in her legs, or in her brain.

If it weren't for all the dog problems, it would have been a nice, relaxing day. The weather was unusually cool for this time of year and I'm more or less caught up with work projects. Since Janet has a birthday coming up, I did some shopping and package wrapping while Janet kept an eye on the dogs. Janet had to go to a meeting later in the day and I stuck to doing things where I could keep Dot at my side. She's resting peacefully now, but I think she might have problems when she tries to go out to pee just before bedtime. The last time she tried to get up, she was really shaky.

I hope things return to normal tomorrow. It was going to be a busy day already, but if Dot's condition doesn't improve with rest overnight, it's going to get a lot busier. Hopefully, I can get her in to see the vet in the morning, although I'm not certain if there's anything that can be done at this point. I wish the dogs were younger, since many of the problems that come with old age simply can't be reversed. I wish I was younger for exactly the same reasons.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1328

It's a shame to drive thirty minutes to a nice dog park, only to find an overly aggressive dog getting in fights with the other dogs when you get there. This doesn't happen every week, but it certainly happens more often than I'd like. Usually, the owners of these aggressive dogs aren't even apologetic about their dog's deplorable behavior. They'll typically pull the fighting dogs apart, then let the instigator go right back to mingling with the other dogs like it was the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile, Dot and Dash are huddled in one corner of the park until the mean dogs leave. As far as I'm concerned, there are no bad dog breeds, but there are plenty of bad dog owners.

Yes, I'll admit I'm geeky enough that I turned on the TV this afternoon to catch a live special where the BBC announced the identity of the next Dr. Who. Will Peter Capaldi make a good Dr. Who? He's certainly a lot older than recent era doctors, but I've enjoyed watching him in The Thick of It. He'll probably make a very good Twelfth Doctor. I'm pretty accepting of these changes anyway. After each regeneration, I usually completely forget about the previous doctor in a matter of weeks.

I got a little lesson in how automated our lives have become this afternoon. I had to go to Home Depot to pick up some odds and ends. The furnace filters and grass seed didn't present a problem, but there was only one of the little stainless steel sink strainers I needed left in the plumbing department and it didn't have a UPC code. I told the checkout clerk what the price was, but he couldn't ring the item up without a bar code to scan. After several unsuccessful attempts to enter the price manually, he just gave me the strainer. Apparently, it just wasn't worth the effort to sell something without a bar code.

I'm not sleeping well. I can't blame it on the dogs anymore either. Dot and Dash have been sleeping quietly all week, even leaving me plenty of room in the bed for a change. I'm still waking up with bad dreams in my head. I've never gone through such a sustained period of bad dreams. When I was young, I had fabulous dreams where I could fly. Then I went through an odd period where I dreamed I was walking from one city to another and could remember every step of the journey. Now, the dreams are just a jumbled mess. Nothing works. I'm lost in giant hotels. My dogs run away. I'm playing with my old band, but we can never get our instruments tuned. I'm looking for a restroom, but they are all occupied. There are never any monsters. Just a lot of small irritations that keep piling up until they eventually wake me. Sometime it's hard to tell when the dream ends and real life begins.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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