Day 3656

It rained a lot today. I tried to avoid getting wet, but there weren't a lot of breaks in the weather. I tried something different for breakfast this morning. Since I was out of fresh fruit, I made the dish I submitted to the SXSW Cookbook many years ago. I was actually an SXSW presenter back in the day. When they asked me if I wanted to be included in a cookbook featuring recipes from various other SXSW presenters and participants I jumped at the chance. Most of the recipes were from famous people like Sheryl Sandberg. And then there was me. Not surprisingly my recipe was something to eat for breakfast.

I managed to go to the grocery store after breakfast and get some more strawberries and blueberries before the heavy rain started. Luckily, the pumps on the roof were working today. Even though the roof hasn't leaked in quite a while, I'm always nervous when it rains.

I had to postpone my walk because of the weather. There wasn't a lot to do around the house. I did a little searching on the Internet and discovered a retired astrophysicist who offered private viewing opportunities on his rather large backyard telescope. As luck would have it, the guy only lives about an hour from Dallas, so I sent him an e-mail and asked if he'd be interested in giving another retired guy a refresher course in deep sky objects. It looks like I'll go visit this guy on a clear moonless night sometime early next year.

Eventually, the rain stopped a little before sunset. I took an abbreviated walk just to make sure I made my quota of 10,000 steps today. I knew the park paths would be muddy, so I just walked through the neighborhood streets. Wow. There are a lot of new houses since I used to walk these streets with Spot and Petey years ago. Everything is bigger and more expensive than it used to be. I probably couldn't afford to buy a house in this neighborhood anymore.

For a dismal, grey day we ended up having a spectacular sunset. I almost missed it, since I was walking back towards the East. I was quite surprised when I returned home and looked westward before going inside. The sunset was pretty, but I knew it would be gone before I could go grab my good camera. I took a quick picture with my phone and then began fixing dinner.

Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow. I had a bad case of cabin fever today. For some reason I'm not very interested in watching movies even though we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I've been reading some interesting histories of the Davis Mountains and the McDonald Observatory recently. I have to read things two or three times before I start to remember everything.

I'm not sure I'll make it to the gym tomorrow. I'm not even sure I'll remember it is Sunday.

Petey & Dot are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 2948

Another uneventful Friday. My pancakes were delicious. Maybe next week I'll make an omelet. I'd almost forgotten that my special omelet recipe made it into the South by Southwest cookbook a few years ago. I was probably the least famous person in this celebrity studded cookbook, but it was still cool to be selected. The only downside to today's meal was that I used up the last of the Italian sausage. There's only one place in town that makes this stuff the way I like it, so I'll have to drive across town to pick up a new supply next week. Let me know if you hear of any amazing new breakfast restaurants. Until then, I'm content to eat at home.

I talked to a dealer I've known for years about helping me liquidate one of my collections. I didn't think he'd be interested, but he seems willing to help for a percentage of the sale. Before we can get started, I need to provide a complete inventory of the collection. Lord knows how long that will take. Most of the stuff is in unmarked boxes in the storage warehouse. I don't even know what I have anymore. If making an inventory was a pleasant task, I would have done it years ago. I guess I should have known that you can postpone unpleasant tasks, but you can seldom avoid them entirely.

People who collect memories probably have an easier time decluttering than people who collect stuff. We all become forgetful as we grow older. When you forget your memories, your problem is solved. When you forget where you've put all your stuff, the problem just becomes more difficult. I hope I can take care of this collection by the end of the year. Then next year, I'll start on another one.

It was much warmer today. Dash didn't need to wear a sweater under his harness and I didn't need to wear a second coat under my down jacket. The fact that I would call a windy, forty degree day "warm" just goes to show you how cold it's been for the past week. I'm ready for Spring. Unfortunately, I don't think Winter cares what I think. We've had plenty of ice storms in February and March.

I got two more writing assignments today. Two articles isn't enough to pay the electric bill, but it's nice that a few people still remember me. I could write two articles a day indefinitely, but I was in no hurry to start writing immediately. I'm going to save these jobs for next week. Hey, I already wrote something last Thursday. With assignments so few and far between, I need to spread these things out.

Am I the only one who's grown tired of all the drama in Washington DC? All the TV stations have a countdown clock showing how many hours are left before the government shuts down again. Who cares. These shutdowns are meaningless. The government starts back up again in a few days. All the government workers get paid. Both sides blame each other for the mess and then the whole cycle starts all over again. The next time the government shuts down, we should just leave it closed indefinitely and see what we can do without. Congress would be the first to go. They aren't doing anything anyway.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1630

The long awaited SXSW Cookbook arrived in today's mail. The book was printed in China, which might explain why it took so long to be published. The well designed, hard cover cookbook looked absolutely beautiful. It was well worth waiting for and I was proud to be included. I am without a doubt, the least famous person in the star studded book, which seemed to include recipes by every millionaire start-up tycoon in Silicon Valley. My recipe is simple and unpretentious. So were my talks when I was asked to be a presenter at SXSW back in the 90's. I'm still kind of amazed to be included among this compilation of A-list multimedia luminaries. I need to save this book. It proves that for a brief moment in time, I was a mover and shaker too.

Today was certainly simple and unpretentious. I wrote two press releases, balanced my checkbook, and picked up some more phenobarbital for Dash at the vet. I got up early to take advantage of the still cool mornings. It's getting too hot for long walks in the afternoons, but I like to make sure that Dot and Dash get at least one good outing before the park turns into a humid furnace.

I read an article today that said Leptospirosis vaccinations for dogs were not effective and maybe even dangerous. This was unsettling, because Dash just got his annual Leptospirosis shot last week. I am increasingly frustrated by a lack of consensus about just about everything in this world. You can pick just about any subject and find well reasoned, but radically diverging viewpoints. Nobody agrees about anything these days, especially when it comes to medicine. I have yet to read the definitive article about what causes diabetes. People can't even agree on whether sugar is the culprit. Nobody can agree on the best food to feed your dog, whether eating wheat and grains is OK, or whether vitamins and supplements do anything at all. I know vegans, people who swear by a Paleo diet, and people who eat whatever they want. All of them think they're right. It's even worse when the subject is politics. I'm convinced that this once great melting pot of a country will remain hopelessly divided for the rest of my life.

I've completely given up on people, but I do wish that everyone could agree on what is best for dogs. Dogs don't get to choose their own healthcare plan, so I think we owe it to them to look out for their best interests. I always want to do what is best for my dogs, but occasionally it occurs to me that everything I know about dogs is just somebody else's opinion. Vets used to says that dogs needed rabies shots every year. Now, it's every three, or in some cases, five years. Is this why Spot got cancer?  I'll probably never know for sure. Doctors will probably never completely agree about my own health either. The playing field is always changing.

In an uncertain world, I would appreciate a calm and uneventful Tuesday. I've grown tired of all the drama and disagreement. To get this uneventful day off to a good start, a big bowl of oatmeal would be just fine.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1548

I finally talked to an oncologist about Dash. I guess I was hoping for a conclusive answer, but what I heard was ambiguous at best. The oncologist said the pathology report didn't go into enough detail and that she would have to call the lab. What she did see didn't sound good. She said some of the carcinoma cells were the type that tended to get into the blood stream and the only way to effectively treat this was through chemotherapy. How long? Six months was typical, she said. How do you know if the treatment worked, I asked? Well, you don't ever know definitively, she said. Cancer cells are microscopic and they can always be hiding somewhere. I guess this is why you hear people say things like "I've been cancer free for five years." That's all they really know.

Medical issues are starting to wear me down. Doctors are far from infallible and you either trust them or you don't. I am not a trusting person, but what other choice do you have?  If you do nothing, you or your pet dies. If you do everything that is asked of you, you may die anyway. It's very frustrating. Modern medicine is very expensive. Doctors don't always agree on things. And a treatment that is in vogue with doctors today can easily become one of those "Call 1-800-BAD-DRUG" commercials tomorrow. Already, some tests and screenings I had ten years ago, are considered ineffectual or even worthless today. That's the thing about medicine. It is always evolving.

I'm not even sure that Dot's water therapy really works. I'd like to believe that it helps, but how do you know for sure? There could be a dozen reasons why she appears stronger now. She could also stumble and injure herself tomorrow, despite everything I've done. That's just the way life it. I'll continue the water therapy though. Seeing her walking in the tank gives me a positive, hopeful feeling. There is nothing dangerous about the water treadmill either. Chemotherapy is different. There are quite a few risks to chemotherapy. You just hope that the rewards on the other side are worth it.

The editor of the cookbook I'm featured in wrote today and told me that the SXSW Cookbook had just gotten a great review in The New York Times. She also told me that my own recipe was one of her personal favorites and that she's cooked it for breakfast herself. Amazing! This is one development that I never would have predicted. Although I love to eat, I certainly wouldn't consider myself much of a cook. Hey, if I can wind up in a popular cookbook, I might get that Amtrak writer's residency grant too. You never know. I never thought I'd be a spokesperson for Paypal either.

This is why I don't like medicine. I've generally led a charmed life. I bumble around aimlessly, and good things happen to me anyway. Medicine doesn't work this way. Whatever you do, you continue to age. The more you age, the more your body deteriorates. Dash is still a young dog though. In dog years, he's much younger than I am. He certainly deserves a shot at living a normal life for another seven or eight years. I just hope that chemotherapy doesn't make his life miserable.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1523

I got a pleasant surprise this morning. I received a publisher's proof of my entry in the upcoming SXSW Cookbook. I was amazed. My recipe looked really good. Somebody had actually followed the directions and cooked the recipe, just so they could photograph it for the cookbook. I didn't know they were going to do that. I also didn't know that they were going to give me a really nice write up that made me look like much more than a reclusive guy who works at home with his dogs.

Maybe I was more back in the days when I routinely used to attend SXSW. I couldn't even afford to go to SXSW anymore. The festival wasn't a star studded event like Sundance back then, but it was still a big deal. The year they asked me to be a speaker at the event, fellow speakers included folks like Steven Soderbergh and Matthew McConaughey. I'm without a doubt the least famous person to have a recipe in this illustrious cookbook, which includes recipes by luminaries like Guy Kawasaki and Randi Zuckerberg. It's an honor to be included. I felt kind of the same way when Paypal selected me to be a spokesperson for their advertising a few years ago. I'm kind of a ghost now, but it's nice to be remembered.

It felt like Spring today. Temperatures were in the seventies and there was a nice breeze. Weather like this always brings a ton of people out to the park behind my house. For years, the place used to be a quiet wooded area and then one year the city passed a big bond issue to revitalize the park. Now the park is a popular destination for people from all over the area. With people come problems. Almost every time there's a really nice day I see fire and rescue folks on the lake rescuing swimmers and unlucky folks who managed to sink their kayaks. I don't know what happened today, but while I was giving Dot and Dash their evening walk I saw a large firetruck with seven firemen, a fire department rescue boat, a police car, and an ambulance. I hope everybody was OK, but it didn't look good.

My second Jawbone UP band has broken. I've gotten hooked on wearing these diminutive activity trackers, but they sure don't last very long. Janet and my stockbroker have had their bands go kaput on them too. I wonder why they can't make the batteries in these things last longer. That's usually what goes wrong. One day you wake up and realize the battery just won't charge anymore and you're just wearing a silly looking loop of rubber.

I'm so happy that Dot has made a complete recovery from what could have been a very serious accident. Dalmatians must have iron stomachs. Spot ate broken glass and lived. Petey ate several birds and some rather large barbecued rib bones. Greta just gnawed on the legs of my prized Palazzetti Tomasa dining room chairs, which didn't hurt her at all, but it sure made me sick.

It definitely looks like a dog park day tomorrow. The weather is absolutely fabulous this weekend. At least temporarily, the ground hog is forgiven.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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