Day 2245 - Superbowl Sunday

Today had its ups and downs. We woke up to discover that Dot was having difficulty walking. As most of you know, she has had trouble walking ever since her spinal injury last year, but today was worse than most days. She couldn't put any weight on her left rear leg at all. This has happened before, so we let her rest in hopes that she'd just slept on the leg wrong. Occasionally, her leg gets twisted in an awkward position when she attempts to get up and re-position herself during the night. If I wake up I'll check and make sure her legs are straight, but sometimes I sleep through her attempts to move. The only thing you can do is let her rest for a while and hope for the best.

Dash likes the mornings when Dot has to rest, because he gets a long walk by himself. We were out for over an hour this morning, walking along the shoreline, reacquainting ourselves with sections of the park that are too distant for Dot to reach these days. Dash didn't seem the least bit concerned that Dot was having a tough day. He just seemed happy that he was finally getting some individual attention. By the time we returned, Dot was already feeling a little more stable. The next time I took her in the back yard to pee, she was already starting to put a little weight on the rear leg. It's always a judgement call when we have to decide if Dot has had enough. If we quit trying to keep her moving, she would quickly become an invalid. Pushing her too hard is equally bad. You have to find the sweet spot where she remains motivated, without asking her to do anything that might make her condition worse. For Dot, and myself as well, life has become one long physical therapy session.

After breakfast, Janet went to a Dalmatian Rescue event and I went to the gym. I probably should have just taken the day off and rested with Dot, since my bad shoulder was really acting up today. I have a feeling that we both slept awkwardly last night. Dot twisted her leg, while I must have gone to sleep with my arm in the wrong position. It happens. I concentrated on cardio training this morning and didn't do any routines that would aggravate my shoulder further.

On the way home from the gym, I stopped by my favorite barbecue place and picked up two pounds of pork ribs, some fried okra, a pint of potato salad, some barbecue beans, and a couple of Corona beers. This seemed like the kind of food you should eat watching the Superbowl.

I enjoyed the game and was happy that Denver won. I always root for the old guys these days. I was glad to see Payton Manning go out on top, becoming the first NFL quarterback in history to have 200 wins as a starter. Everyone looked good today. Lady Gaga sang the best rendition of the Star Spangled Banner since Whitney Houston's memorable performance twenty five years ago. Lady Gaga seems to have grown up. Hanging out with Tony Bennett has been good for her. Nobody will ever top Michael Jackson's half time performance, but Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars put on a good show.

I'm still laughing at Larry David's take on the Bernie Sanders campaign last night on Saturday Night Live. Larry David is perfect as Bernie. The Iowa Caucus skit where Bernie lost by five votes because he alienated a voter by refusing to shake hands with a her after she coughed in her hand, and then compounded his error by refusing to try to pop another woman's shoulder back in place while he was going out for coffee was hilarious. Sienfeld meets politics, meets reality. This political season is very confusing. Am I watching an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm? Am I watching an episode of Celebrity Apprentice? Who knows.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2153

It takes at least a gallon and a half of water to flush a toilet. You can use a quart of water just rinsing off a few dishes to put in the dishwasher. It only takes a cup of water to brush your teeth however. I'm learning a lot about water. Like most of you reading this, I use an enormous amount of water without even thinking about it. There's a water bill every month, but water still seems a bit like air. It is just there. It is only when you take away the water that you realize its true significance.

Dot pooped in her bed again last night. I instinctively went to a nearby bathroom sink to wet a rag so I could clean her up. Oops. There is no water coming from these faucets. There is no water coming from any faucets. I carefully pick up as much poop as I can using a plastic poop bag. I know I can't just take the dog blanket outside and hose it down anymore. I wet a rag using a bottle of distilled water I use to make coffee and carefully clean Dot's tail and under belly. The blanket isn't that bad. I put it in a pile of dog blankets that will go to the laundromat. I get a fresh blanket for Dot and we go back to bed. I only used up a cup of water to do all this.

If you want an egg for breakfast, you have to remember that you can't clean the pan. Once the dishwasher fills up with plates that you've carefully rinsed using small amounts of your valuable bottled water, you realize that your should have been using paper plates and plastic cups all along. Old habits die hard. You scrape plates into the garbage disposal and then realize that there's no water to wash the food away. You use more of your stash of water to briefly run the disposal so it won't start to smell next Tuesday. The two large dehumidifiers and the air conditioner working in tandem have already brought the humidity levels back to the normal range. The vent resisters are dry again. We've made a lot of progress.  There is no reason to mess things up at this point by turning the water back on again for a small amount of time so we could take showers and do laundry. The leak is large, so turning the water on again for even thirty minutes could put us right back where we started.

It's not like we're camping out. It's just that the bathroom is ten miles away now. Janet slept in the hotel last night and I went over this morning to take a shower. I'm envious of Dash when I watch him lift his leg in the park and pee wherever he wants. Too bad I can't do the same thing. It sure would make life simpler. When we went grocery shopping today, we mostly bought things that you can simply heat up in the microwave and eat without getting any more plates dirty. I'm wondering whether I can still make my morning smoothies. To clean the Vitamix, all you do is fill the container with about half a quart of water, add a little soap, and run the "clean" cycle. I should be able to do this with my stash of bottled water. The alternative is just to go out for breakfast every morning until the plumber fixes the leak. That sounds pretty good too.

All in all, the day went well. We washed a huge load of towels and dog blankets at a nearby laundromat. Too bad there's not a laundromat for dirty dishes. The humidity in the house is only 41% right now. We're making progress. I bought a bunch of bottled water for flushing toilets at Sam's Club. I even got caught up on some of the website work I was supposed to do yesterday. I watched another new episode of Dr. Who and will probably watch Saturday Night Live, just to see what Donald Trump does. Tomorrow I need to get ready for the tunnel digging crew to arrive. Mostly this involves taking apart a screened in porch without totally destroying it. We'll see if Dot can make it through the night. If she can't, there will be another trip to the laundromat tomorrow.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2146 - Halloween

When I was walking Dash this evening, I noticed that some of the neighbors were turning a nearby tennis court into a Halloween party. There were spooky Halloween decorations and tables had been set up with baskets filled with candy. This seemed like an odd way to trick or treat, but I guess it made sense. There aren't many children in the neighborhood and since parents only seem to take their kids to houses with other children of the same age, having a central trick or treat location probably saved these people a lot of driving across town. Dash seemed curious about what was going on, so I took him down to the tennis court to investigate. Right after we arrived, someone decided to test the sound system by playing spooky witch noises. The cackling witch scared Dash and he immediately lost interest in the party preparations and headed toward home. Poor Dash. He is scared of just about everything.

It was a dreary day, but after 24 hours of solid rain, damp and overcast was just fine. We didn't have the flooding problems that plagued Austin and Houston this week, but we certainly got a lot of rain. Basically, we received our entire Summer's quota of rain in two days. Once I determined that things were drying out, I went up on the roof and cleared away the standing water. Every time I do this I find thousands of new acorns on the roof. I sweep them over the edge and more appear the next day. This bumper crop of acorns probably means that there will literally be hundreds of little Oak seedlings sprouting in the St. Augustine grass next Spring.

The FedEx driver did make an appearance this morning to deliver my package. I was glad to have that issue resolved. I could have asked the driver why he blew me off yesterday, but what would that prove? Yesterday is in the past and I have my package now. It made more sense to just sign for the package, thank the driver for coming out on a Saturday, and move on. The package wasn't damaged either, so that was a bonus.

Tonight's episode of Dr. Who seemed more like an episode of the X-Files. The whole show seemed to be some sort of an allegory about immigration, terrorism, and other contemporary events. A lot of fans seem to think Season 9 is great. Personally, I prefer the Christopher Eccleston/Billy Piper era. I got bored with the show at some point and switched over to Saturday Night Live, watching Barack Obama introduce the opening sketch wearing a Barack Obama mask. Strange times. I couldn't decide if it was weirder to see Dr. Who making a thinly veiled statement about radicalization and terrorism, or see the President of the United States wearing a Halloween mask of himself.

Janet wanted to dress the dogs up for Halloween when we took them on their evening walk. The complex harnesses they both wear now don't lend themselves to costumes though. We found an old tutu that Dot used to wear and just put it around her head like a necklace. It's just as well. If she wore the costume properly, she would have peed on it or worse. Dot has worn many memorable costumes over the years, but she probably never liked any of them. Halloween and Daylight Saving Time don't make much sense to a dog. When the time changes tomorrow, we're going to think it's 6 AM, but Dot and Dash are going to think it's 7 AM and time for a walk. So much for sleeping in.

Roxie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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