Day 4268

I really miss my long walks in the park. These walks provided a much needed sense of purpose. Sure, I was really just killing time, but it was easy to convince myself that I was doing something important. Hey, as you grow older, staying active and healthy actually is important. Sadly, I'm going to have to wait a while until I can get back on the trails. I can take short walks for now, but my doctors say it will be at least three weeks before I'll be able to resume any semblance of my normal activities.

With each passing day I continue to feel a little better. I think I can attribute most of the weirdness I'm feeling now to the Cipro I have to continue taking. Cipro has a number of unfortunate side effects and I seem to be affected by several of them. Cipro is known to cause peripheral neuropathy and I am feeling an odd tingling sensation in my fingers and legs when I am inactive. This may also be caused by poor circulation, since my resting heart rate is curently much lower than normal. I'm blaming the Cipro though. Cipro also causes headaches and I have one right now. Luckily, I was prescribed a short course of this drug. I only have three pills left and I'll be done tomorrow evening.

We are having a mild heat wave. The temperature got up to 97 degrees today. Our sunrise walk with Dawn was fairly normal, but you could tell it was going to be hot later in the day. We didn't take Dawn on a sunset walk because we were afraid the pavement was too hot for her paws. Dawn certainly didn't seem to mind staying inside. I should have stayed home as well, but I felt like I needed to move. I hate being cooped up all day. I waited until it was just about dark and then took a short one mile walk. I was a little tired when I returned home, but I got to see a pretty sunset. I definitely needed the exercise.

Today wasn't very productive. I watered a few plants, wrote a letter to my sister, and made an appointment for later in September to see my gastrointestinal doctor. They want to review their Barrett's esophagus diagnosis with me. I think they'll want to do some biopsies of the esophagus to check for precancerous cells. Unfortunately, this means another hospital visit, but I think the dreaded event is at least three months away.

I wonder where people find the strength to deal with serious illness? My Dad dealt with Parkinson's disease for decades and my sister has been in and out of hospitals for years. I've generally been the healthy one in the family. I did have Hepatitis C but that was the hospital's fault. It's hard to believe now, but hospitals used to routinely buy blood from winos on the street. It's amazing we all lived through the 60's and 70's. In the grand scheme of things, my surgery last week was minor. It has redoubled my resolve to stay healthy though. I don't have that much time left and I want to enjoy it.

Hard to believe that tomorrow will be September. Where did this year go? 2020 and 2021 have all just blurred together. I wonder if things will ever return to normal? Covid boosters will probably be just like flu shots in the future. The work world will never be the same. I never thought I'd see the day when companies of all sizes were begging for workers and the unemployed still didn't want to work. There is a tendency to blame someone else for everything now. Nobody wants to take personal responsibility for their own lives any more. It's all pretty sad. I'm convinced that the country will remain permanently divided and this won't be good for anyone. We live in strange times. I'm just glad I had a chance to grow up in world that was a much better place.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3203

Another month has come and gone. It's getting harder and harder to give Dash his monthly heartworm pill. The pills are large and it is difficult to hide them. When we finished the morning meds and cleaned up the poop on the floor, the first of October was pretty much the same as the end of September.

I saw some people setting up what appeared to be a small circus while Dash and I were out walking this morning. The circus folks better hope it doesn't rain. They were putting their tent in an area that routinely floods. October is packed with outdoor events. The State Fair has already started and in addition to the small circus, there was an Octoberfest celebration going on in another section of the park. I studiously avoid all these events. I don't like crowds. When the dogs were young, we took them to a few outdoor events. They usually had fun because there was almost always food involved. I don't know when the circus starts, but we'll probably change our route for a few days. It's a lot easier to deal with a dog who can barely walk and is likely to poop on your shoe in an area devoid of other people.

I was disappointed to learn that none of my trains sold in September. I was getting used to consistent sales and a check at the first of the month. Maybe October will be better. These trains would make a great gift for a railfan. Hopefully, my friend can sell quite a few during the holiday season.

I had to go to the storage warehouse and bring home another rug for Dash. Pretty soon all Dot's rugs are going to be back in the house. They're ugly, but if they help keep Dash standing, they're worth it. I took some little rugs back when I picked up the bigger ones to avoid unnecessary clutter. I got ahead of myself though. I had to go back to the storage warehouse and retrieve the little rug to fill a slippery place in the kitchen. Hopefully all is well for at least a few more weeks.

Dash has another big exam at the cancer center later this week. I wish there was something they could do that would actually make him better, rather than just monitor his decline. I hope Dash doesn't suffer from Peripheral Neuropathy in addition to all his other ailments. He's certainly starting to exhibit a lot of the classic symptoms. He definitely has a problem with his mouth. If it's an abscess or a decayed tooth, I don't know what we are going to do. Most of his doctors don't think he could survive anesthesia.

I applied for the NASA event in Houston later this month and paid a few of the early October bills. There was some last minute paperwork I needed to sign with the auction house and some routine correspondence that needed to be answered. I didn't have the energy to fight with the roofers again. I'll grit my teeth and try to do that tomorrow.

I'm glad they got a trade deal settled today. It was certainly good for the market. I'm glad Elon Musk got his problems resolved as well. I don't think he was treated fairly by the SEC at all. Few people noticed these events because everyone was fighting about other things. So far the confirmation circus has only succeeded in raising my resting heart rate. I can't think of anything else that might have caused this.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3079

Our power went out again today. Once again there was no wind or rain. It was pretty hot though. Since the outage occurred around the evening rush hour, I suspect that everybody just came home from work and turned on their air conditioner at the same time. The power grid in our part of town is pretty old. I don't think it's up to the job anymore. When the newcomers start tearing down all the 2000 square foot homes and replacing them with 5000 square foot homes, something's got to give.

My doctor seems to think I'm in pretty good shape. I'm a borderline diabetic who needs to take statins, but other than that I'm good to go. The heart is good, there are no signs of cancer, my weight and blood pressure are under control. I just need to keep exercising and eating right. I got a pneumonia shot today and will probably get the new shingles vaccine at my next exam. Apparently, you can't take these two vaccines together. I was relieved to learn that I don't have peripheral neuropathy. The reason my fingers and toes sometimes feel numb right after I wake up is due to the way I sleep. There's a name for the condition, but basically it's just a pinched nerve.

I finally got a decent picture of a scissor-tailed-flycatcher. These birds are amazing to watch, but hard to photograph. They catch insects in mid air and can use their long forked tail to make abrupt turns and even hover like a helicopter. They are very territorial and will chase away larger hawks and other birds that invade their space. I don't know why this one was so still this morning, but now you know what they look like.

My doctor said the pneumonia shot might cause some soreness. He was right. My arm feels like someone hit me with a hammer. Oh, well. If I never get pneumonia, it was worth it. The soreness in my arm is nothing compared to all the chigger bites I've got anyway. These bites are driving me crazy. Chiggers are so small that you usually can't even see them. The bites pack a wallop though. They itch much worse than mosquito bites. The only thing worse are fire ants. We have those too. It's only a matter of time before I start getting fire ant bites.

When the power went out, I noticed that the UPS for my computer only had four minutes of back up power. It's supposed to have over an hour. I've already replaced the batteries on this uninterrupted power source once. It looks like I'm going to have to replace them again. Gasoline seems so reliable compared to batteries. I'm always replacing batteries. I've been fascinated with Tesla ever since they first appeared on the market. I don't think I'd ever have the nerve to buy one though. The car is basically a giant lithium-ion battery. What could possibly go wrong?

I hope we don't have another power outage tomorrow. It's going to be very hot. When the power went out this afternoon, the inside temperature went up ten degrees in less than an hour. A full day without power would be very hard on Dash. Years ago, we were without power for four days in the middle of July. We're all too old for that now. If it ever happened again, we'd have to move to a dog-friendly hotel.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2198

I thought I'd finished my Christmas shopping yesterday, but I forgot something important. Yup. I didn't have any wrapping paper. I got back in the car again after breakfast and went to the Container Store. They had an entire store full of overpriced wrapping paper. I found what I needed and went back home again. Hopefully, I really am finished with shopping this time.

I was surprised to find a UPS package on my doorstep from a distant cousin I rarely see. I was even more surprised at the contents. One of my elderly aunts had passed away not too long ago and this cousin was the executor of her estate. He send me decades of family photos that I never even knew existed. I should have known they existed, since I was in many of them. It seemed strange that this aunt, who I hadn't seen in years, kept a much better record of my family than I did. I should have asked her to tell me the story behind these pictures while she was still alive. Now she and her brothers and sisters are all gone. It's odd. I've been a professional photographer for many, many years, but I've never kept a family album. There are very few pictures of me as an adult at all. I do have thousands of pictures of my dogs though.

I knew there were going to be problems with Dot when she went to bed without doing her business last night. Sure enough, she pooped in her bed around 3 AM, and then pooped again in the kitchen a few hours later when she was eating her breakfast. As messes go, this was a big one. Hopefully, she will be back on schedule for a while. It's sad to see Dot's neuropathy progress. There is no cure and her condition will gradually get worse. The spinal surgery helped. The water therapy we do every week continues to help, but the nerve damage is still there. The only comforting thought is that Dot is still happy and doesn't seem to be in any pain. I just try to make each day as easy as possible for her.

I installed the new version of Pro Tools this morning. I added a few essential plug-ins, made sure everything worked and then quit the application without making any music at all. It will probably be months before I even think about Pro Tools again. I don't know why it is so important for me to stay current with Pro Tools, Media Composer, Final Cut Pro and a few other tools that my business used to depend on. I was a good editor, but I've kind of lost my chops, since it's been a while since anyone's needed me to open up these applications and actually use them. I'm sure that there will be a day when I'll get bored enough to open Pro Tools again and learn to use some of the fancy new features. Maybe I'll write a song again some day. That would be nice. It's such an uphill battle. To write a song again, I'd have to get my keyboard out of the storage warehouse and teach myself to play piano again.

I paid the last of the December bills and took them to the post office. With this year's humongous plumbing bills, dental bills, and cancer treatment bills behind me, maybe now I can finally get ahead of the game. Oh, wait. There isn't time. The year is already over. I'm sure that next year will bring a whole new set of surprises. I guess I'll wrap packages tomorrow. It would be a good idea to get them wrapped before Christmas.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1349

I think the dogs had more energy than I did today. Although we schlepped them all over town, they seemed to take it all in stride. Even though it was hot as hell at the dog park, they still enjoyed the outing. They were both great little ambassadors for Dalmatian Rescue at the PetCo store rescue event this afternoon. They even had enough energy left over to take a pretty decent evening walk.

I can't say the same for myself. I think it was mowing the grass after we returned from the rescue events that did me in. I don't care what you say. I still think mowing the grass burns more energy than anything I do at the gym. I use an electric mower now, and even though it is much lighter than the old gas mower, it is not self-propelled. Pushing that thing up a hill is probably all the cardio exercise I need. The yard does look much better now though.

I discovered that there's a name for the numbness I often feel in my toes. It's called Peripheral neuropathy and I actually wish I hadn't learned about it. I used to think the numbness was just caused by the Carvedilol I was taking to slow down my heart rate. It made sense that since my heart wasn't pumping as fast, the circulation to my feet wouldn't be as good as it should be. Now it appears that numbness and tingling sensations in the toes and feet can be caused by any number of things, including diabetes, Hepatitis-C, and vitamin B deficiency. What this means for me is that my doctors will never agree on a cause and they'll all propose different treatments. I guess it doesn't really matter, since there is no cure for Peripheral neuropathy anyway.

I finished my monthly writers group assignment this evening. Lately, everything I write is starting to feel like an assignment. Whatever happened to writing for the sheer joy of it? I'd like to imagine that I used to write for the sheer joy of writing, but I suspect that I've mostly just written for money. About the only thing I do for the sheer joy of it anymore is eat things on my forbidden list. Bacon anyone?

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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