Day 4685

Today was busy. We got up extra early so Dawn could go down to the park and pee before we left for the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. Janet left first so she could help check the golfers in and I left about an hour later to take pictures. This was our first morning tournament. Previously, everyone ate lunch and then there was a shotgun start around 1 PM. Most teams seemed to like this early start better.

It was a beautiful day, although it was quite windy. The wind might have affected the golfer's score but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm. Everyone had a good time. It took me a while to find the teams playing in the tournament. The course was huge and there were jogging trails mixed in with the cart paths. Occasionally I would find myself on a jogging trail and wonder why I wasn't seeing any golfers. After circling the course several times in my cart, I eventually found everyone for their team pictures.

Most of the people who adopted the litter of puppies we had back in April came to the tournament. I was amazed at how quickly the puppies had grown. They all looked like adult dogs now. All Sammy's puppies looked fabulous. This was an exceptionally good looking litter. I enjoyed getting a chance to see the dogs again, and the dogs seemed to enjoy seeing their brothers and sisters. Lots of other people brought their dogs as well, but we didn't take Dawn to the tournament. She wouldn't have made it this far in the car. It's a shame that she is still terrified of car rides, but she seemed happy enough to take a long nap on the bed while we were gone.

My knees are terrible now. Every time I got down on my knees to get a better angle, I had trouble getting back up again. I think I took some decent pictures, but some of the people took even better pictures using their phones. Smart phones have come a long way since we started doing these golf tournaments. The annual golf tournament is still Dalmatian Rescue's biggest fundraiser of the year. We've had more golfers in previous years, but I think we still did pretty well. 

After finishing my photo duties, I drove home again so I could feed Dawn and let her out to pee. She actually seemed glad to see me this time. I'm usually around the house and this was a long time for her to be alone. After Dawn finished her lunch, I left to do my grocery shopping. There was no time for a long walk today, but I got plenty of steps walking around the golf course. 

As usual I had trouble finding certain items. I think selective scarcity is just a fact of life now. Rising prices are definitely a fact of life. I ran into an old ad agency buddy while I was at the grocery store. We hadn't seen each other in over five years and were both old men now. We traded stories about surviving the  Covid years and wondered about the future of the ad biz. A lot has changed. I think we were both glad we spent our working years during advertising's golden age. I had a lot more fun working during the 70's than I do facing retirement while I'm in my 70's.

Dawn was glad to see that life had returned to normal after Janet returned to the house later in the day. We had a light dinner and got ready to start over again tomorrow. I'll probably go mall walking again and then we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. It was nice to have a change of pace today. I'm not a very sociable person, but I enjoyed going to the tournament. Hopefully my knees will still function when we do this again next year.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4476

It felt like Summer today. The temperature reached 93 degrees this afternoon. I hope our nice Spring days aren't over yet. Summers in Texas can be brutal. The furnace still comes on for a little while when we get up in the morning, but pretty soon the AC will be running 24/7. I'm not looking forward to those Summer electric bills.

Dawn got two walks today and enjoyed both of them. I could have slept a little longer this morning, but Dawn was eager to go on her sunrise walk. Now that Janet is back, she's always got places to go and things to do. I think Sunday is Dawn's favorite day. Not only does she get her special outing followed by ice cream cones, she also gets a little bacon with our Sunday breakfast. Dawn loves bacon.

Sunday is usually a big walking day for me, but my feet weren't cooperating today. After Dawn's two walks, I didn't feel like going much further. It still seems strange that my foot pain is so unpredictable. Some days are good and other days are terrible. There isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to all this. At any rate, today was a bad day. I didn't even come close to 20,000 steps.

All I really wanted to do today was nap. I did try to fix the toilet again, but that was probably a futile effort. Other household chores will have to wait. I just didn't feel like doing much of anything today. Today's long walk was my shortest in several weeks. It was a nice day and the park was full of people enjoying the weather. I wasn't one of them. I trudged along, got a respectable number of steps, and then went home for another nap.

The big annual sale at REI is almost over and I still haven't been to the store and gotten anything. There is absolutely nothing I need. I guess I do need some new Hoka shoes, but I still can't find the boots I want and these shoes are never on sale anyway. Maybe I"ll go to the last day of the sale tomorrow. Probably not though. Tomorrow we visit the rescue Dalmatians and one event a day is plenty for me. 

Janet and I watched a little bit of the Oscars during dinner, but it seemed ridiculous and we ended up turning it off after about ten minutes. We didn't recognize many of the actors or movies being nominated. It just seemed like a strange, very self indulgent event. I wonder if the Oscars were every very good. It seemed like we used to like to watch this years ago. Things change I guess. We used to like to watch Project Runway and Top Chef too. I don't think I like anything on TV these days.

We got some new pictures of Sammy's puppies today. Their eyes are open now. These are going to be some good looking dogs. They should start getting their spots soon. I wonder how people get the nerve to raise puppies. It seems like a big responsibility. Just keeping a single dog healthy and safe seems like a big responsibility. 

I hope I sleep well tonight. I've been tired all day. Tomorrow we'll meet Dorothy when we visit the kennel. I've seen some videos of her playing with toys. She never stays still. Hope she stays still for long enough for me to get a picture for the website. It's a challenge with a young dog. Sometimes photographing a Dalmatian can make you dizzy.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4462

Another nice day. I keep hoping that our cold, rainy weather is over with, but as luck would have it there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow. I did nothing of significance today, but I did do a lot of walking. Dawn seems to have no problems with Daylight Savings Time. Even though we basically did everything an hour earlier today, there were no complaints. Some of our dogs would have become irate at a five minute change in their feeding schedule, but Dawn was fine. Underneath her many fears and phobias she's a very laid back dog.

I don't know why I spent so much time walking today because this wasn't a good day for my feet. After our sunrise walk, Dawn's Sunday outing, and my regular long walk I was beat. It was a good day for the weather however. I'm finally starting to see a few wildflowers in the park and the trees are starting to turn green. It's too bad that foot pain is still an issue. This would have been a good day to walk all the way around the lake.

I wasted a lot of time this afternoon trying to get my old Skype phone to work. This is a physical phone but it just hooks up to Skype. I used to use it a lot when I had clients in Europe, but I haven't turned the thing on in years. The phone is so old that the plastic case is starting to turn sticky and rubbery. The first thing I learned was that Skype is now part of Microsoft. When did that happen? The phone wouldn't connect to the AT&T WiFi, but it would connect to the older T-Mobile Hotspot. Microsoft has changed my easy to remember user name to a long string of letters and numbers that were almost impossible to type on the phone's tiny keyboard. I finally got the phone connected, but of course I have no one to call on Skype anymore. The whole exercise was just a way to kill time.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard anything from NASA regarding the upcoming Artemis-1 launch. Things are starting to happen next week and ordinarily I would have received a yes or no on my application for press credentials by now. I have no idea what is going on anymore. I don't hear much from NASA and I don't hear much from SpaceFlight Magazine. I'm beginning to wonder if anyone even remembers me. I don't think there's much I can do about the situation. I'm not a major player. There are a ton of launches in 2022 and even if I'm lucky I'll probably only be able to afford to attend two.

The Internet and my Fitbit both crashed about the same time this afternoon. It took me quite a while to figure out where the problem was. I ended up having to restart the router, the fiber optic gateway, the thermostat in the hall, my phone, the computer, and of course the Fitbit itself. I didn't even remember how to turn the Fitbit off. I think it has been on since the day I bought it. Everything works now, but I still have no idea what went wrong. Just another example of the complexities of networked life. Nobody really understands how all this stuff works.

I spoke too soon about Sammy's puppies. She had two more after last night's blog post. Now there are eight males and three females. Mom and the pups are still doing well. Dalmatian puppies are born without spots. The spots come later. Several of the pups were born with black ears though. These are going to be some good looking dogs.

Janet made a big pot roast for dinner so I'd have something healthy to eat while she was on vacation. I love a good pot roast. Dawn loves the carrots, so may she'll join me for dinner next week. Dawn is definitely Janet's dog, but I'll try my best to make life enjoyable for her while Janet is away. 

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day