Day 4827

Dawn got a walk this morning and she did quite well. She seemed much happier today and being able to resume some of her regular activies was probably the reason. It's hard to tell if she is actually getting better since she is still taking pain medication and her neck still feels puffy. She's started to shake her head again which is both good and bad. It's good that her neck isn't as painful anymore, but we're going to have to start wearing the No Flap Ear Wrap again. The hematoma in her ear is starting to improve and we don't want that to get bad again.

I didn't do anything exciting today, but I did stay busy. I did several chores that I've been trying to avoid like cleaning toilets and trying to remove the stains on the ceiling. Spraying bleach on the ceiling works pretty well to remove a lot of the brown stains, but it's a messy job. You have to remove everything in the area, so you don't bleach furniture or other objects by mistake. I've learned to wear a hat, glasses and white clothing while I'm doing this so I don't ruin my clothes as well. The living room looks better now but I'm not even going to bother with the stains in the office ceiling. That part of the house is still leaking.

When Janet came home from the gym I took my long walk. We make sure that one of us is always home now to keep an eye on Dawn. We're making progress and the last thing we want is for Dawn to hurt her leg again with a bad fall. It turns out to be easier to let her continue to sleeping on our bed rather than gate her in a hallway where she can't fall. Dawn is a very stubborn dog and she just won't relax if she can't do things her way. Breakfast her way now means breakfast in bed. I don't know why she won't eat her breakfast in the kitchen anymore but it's not a big deal. I bring her bowl back to the bed and she eats there lying down. Oddly, she eats her other meals just fine in the kitchen.

Our weather has been like a roller coaster lately. One day it's hot and the next day it's cold. Today it was pretty chilly. It's hard to decide what to wear because it's always colder next to the lake. At least it was sunny today. I dressed warmly and completed my route, even though my feet hurt at the end. I'm not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. It stays dark too long in the morning now and light too long in the evening.  I guess the late sunsets don't really matter because I'm not taking a telescope out in the evening anyway. The only connection I have with astronomy these days is testing the star tracker inside the house.

I had a nice walk this morning but it bothers me that I'm getting tired more easily. Walking six miles seems like a struggle at times. I'm going to keep walking though. I'm convinced that this activity is keeping me healthy and walking in the park is a lot easier than driving to the gym. I'm already doing better than my parents. Dad had Parkinson's Disease at my age and Mom was already dead.

I hate hearing that there's going to be a run on the banks after Silicon Valley Bank failed. Jeez. The money I have in the bank is my safe money, since I've never considered investing in the stock market to be all that safe. If the banks aren't safe anymore what do you do? Personally I think the news media love to scare people because it's good for ratings. They are making a big deal out of the bank failure because they know it will scare people. They've also been making a big deal out of airline safety lately because people are traveling more. Be that way if you want. I'll just quit listening to the news.

I need to remember that I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Doctors and dentists hate it when you fail to show up. I have to go to the dermatologist now because I have a few spots of actinic keratosis on my face. Since this is sometimes a pre-cancerous condition they want to check me every six months. No problems so far. The doctor freezes the keratosis spots with liquid nitrogen and I'm on my way. Did I mention that I hate growing old.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3830 - My Birthday

Another trip around the sun. I guess I'm doing pretty well for 72. My Dad already had Parkinson's and Macular Degeneration at this age and my Mom didn't even make it this far. Janet and I do our best to stay healthy, but when you are over seventy, every extra year is a gift. I figure that I've got a good ten years left before I start to fall apart, but you never know. Not all of us are destined to be Betty White.

We went out for a birthday dinner at our favorite restaurant this evening. With all the controversy about whether Texas has reopened too soon, I didn't know what to expect. We were both pleasantly surprised and felt completely safe. The tables were spaced far apart, the staff all wore masks, and everyone was super nice. Our waiter even recognized me and said that it was nice to see us again. I always enjoy dining at Knife and was glad we didn't decide to stay home.

The restaurant wasn't crowded. Everyone was responsible. You could tell that the entire staff was trying hard to make this work. Too bad everyone doesn't seem to be able to reopen this way. It's crazy out there. Some stores are still completely closed. Others have you order online and then they bring your merchandise out to your car. A few stores are just pretending like none of this ever happened. I find this inconsistency confusing. Clearly we can't keep the entire country quarantined forever, but it is equally obvious that the virus isn't going away. Texas is having a big spike in new cases at the same time the state is trying to reopen.

Everyone was really pretty good about staying quarantined for several months, but it feels like everyone has had enough. "We did our part," you can almost hear people saying. Now they expect the virus to go away. I'm going to continue to stay away from people. I've never liked crowds anyway. I think that as long as you avoid public transportation, bars, sporting events, concerts, weddings, church services, and other situations where people are crowded together you are probably OK. I might even go ahead and get a haircut. When Janet went to the salon last week, she said that everyone was so careful and that they only let a few customers in at a time.

When we came home from the restaurant the skies were clear and now we are under a severe weather warning. Texas weather is always full of surprises. I hope we don't lose power. The wind is blowing pretty hard outside. It is always a pain when we lose power right in the middle of a blog post. I've got to get all the emergency power devices working and then start over again using the laptop.  Hopefully that won't happen. I don't have that much more to say anyway.

Thanks for all the birthday greetings. Checking to see who sent you a birthday message on Facebook has become a ritual part of almost everyone's birthday these days. Did Facebook always send out birthday notices? I can't even remember when this started. Nobody sends birthday cards anymore except my sister who refuses to use the Internet. I wonder if people have started having birthday parties again? During the lockdown, people in our neighborhood would put up birthday signs in their front yards and drivers would honk when they drove by.

It is a little weird to be 72. Most of my NASA and astronomy friends are half my age. I don't feel old at all. Hopefully I'll feel as healthy when I turn 73 as I do now. I'm not doing anything special, but I can tell you for a fact that lots of exercise and a healthy diet work wonders.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2709

Today was just like yesterday. Dot wouldn't eat any breakfast and wasn't interested in food when she took her morning and afternoon pills. I used a syringe to feed her some of the Dogsure liquid supplement in the morning, but she didn't start eating on her own until almost 6 PM. She ate half a cup of her kibble, but not nearly enough for the day. I'm counting on her appetite returning one more time before we all go to bed.

I've discovered that Dot will only eat things that she is able to chew. If she tries to chew something and it falls out of her mouth, she won't touch it again. Unfortunately, this rules out a lot of tasty options. She really wanted to eat the flank steak today but it kept falling out of her mouth. I tried different sized pieces, but nothing worked. I think the reason she still prefers the dry kibble that has been her regular diet for years is that she can still chew the tiny pieces.

I've become obsessed with feeding Dot. I've got it in my head that if I fail, she will die. I know that Dot is very old and has lived long past her expiration date already, but that doesn't matter. I can tell she wants to keep going. Eating is one of life's fundamental pleasures. Dot has always loved to eat. I just wish I could find a more effective way to help her. My Dad enjoyed eating too. When Parkinson's Disease took away his ability to swallow, his doctors decided to use a feeding tube. The feeding tube was supposed to be temporary, but of course it wasn't. I think the doctors knew that it was never coming out. Looking back, I realize that Dad started to lose his will to live when that feeding tube was inserted. He would have rather have died choking on a juicy steak than have a nurse pump some tasteless goo into his stomach through a feeding tube every morning.

So how do I make Dot's last days pleasurable? She still gets her walks. We've taken care of the pain as well as we can. Eating is more complex. Dot definitely wants to eat. Unfortunately, the signals just aren't traveling reliably from her brain to her mouth. I'm really starting to believe that Dot does have some canine form of Alzheimer's Disease. Nothing else effectively explains what I am observing everyday.

I took a little nap while the dogs were sleeping this afternoon. When I woke up I realized that I should have gone to the pharmacy and picked up a prescription I'd run out of. Oh, well. I guess it won't kill me to skip a day. Even though life is very basic now, it is still hard to get everything done. I finally did climb up on the roof today and cleared away the standing water from our recent rain. I noticed a few new areas that need to be patched. I'll make another call to the roofer and maybe he'll be back out to the house by the Fourth of July.

I've started eating the food that Dot has rejected. I ate the salmon tonight for dinner. Maybe I'll eat the rest of the flank steak tomorrow. Dot's appetite finally did return about 10 PM when she decided that she wanted to eat Dash's food. Works for me. I have no idea what Dot will decide to eat tomorrow, but I do know that I'm going to have pancakes. Maybe she likes pancakes.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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