Day 3107

The yard looks nice again. I thought the guys were only going to replace a few squares of obviously dead St. Augustine sod, but they ended up replacing about half the grass in the yard. The landscapers were very nice and I felt a little bad about calling them multiple times about the bad grass. I was polite but persistent. You have to be. I've learned the hard way that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Now it's time to focus my attention on the leaky roof, the stuck sliding glass door, the faulty backyard light, the noisy toilet, and a half dozen other things that are falling apart around the house. There are lots of little things that need attention this Summer, but the big thing is still Dash. I worry about Dash every day.

I talked to two different vets today about blood thinners and internal bleeding. Both of them agreed that Janet and I did the right thing to discontinue the low dose aspirin Dash was taking when we started seeing dark stools. Evidently baby aspirin has a greater tendency to irritate the stomach and intestinal lining than Plavix. Low dose aspirin can easily cause internal bleeding in both humans and animals. We're going to stop the aspirin for now, but continue the Plavix. So far, this plan seems to be working. Dash's poop has already returned to its normal color and there are no longer any obvious signs of bleeding. We can only hope that we are still keeping the blood clot from growing.

I'm way behind on the website project I'm supposed to be doing this Summer. I've been waiting for input, but I finally decided that I could get started without it. I didn't really accomplish much today, but I did manage to recover my password and gain access to the server. I created a space for the new site to reside and now I've got a place to come back and work whenever I'm in the mood. As my deadline for completing this project approaches, I imagine that I'm going to be in the mood a lot more often.

As soon as the new grass got installed, the yard squirrels started to eat it. When the squirrels aren't eating the grass, they are digging holes to bury acorns under it. With all the critters that call this place home, it's amazing that I have a yard at all. I have a feeling that critters are responsible for the faulty security light in the back yard as well. There are thousands of spiders in the yard and they are constantly building webs. I wouldn't be surprised if there a thick spider web covering the photocell that turns the light on and off. This would certainly explain the erratic behavior of the photocell, but I'm not sure about the solution. You can't tell spiders what to do.

I'm recording the two hour season finale of The Expanse tonight. I wonder when I'll find time to watch this? Dash doesn't usually sleep this long. Whenever I watch, I'm sure I'll have to stop and start the show over and over again, so I can take Dash outside to pee. Dash will sleep for a long time if I'm sleeping with him. If I'm trying to do something else, he's constantly interrupting me. Like any Dalmatian, he thrives on attention. I probably spoil him, but why not. Dash has so many problems that he deserves all the happy moments he can get.

I can't decide whether to stay up late tonight. Saturn is at opposition and less than one degree away from the full moon tonight. It ought to be quite a sight. The only problem is that there are so many trees in our area that I won't be able to get a good view of this rare alignment until almost 1 AM. If I want to see Saturn's rings, I'll need to get the telescope out too. I wonder if I can even find the telescope? I know it's here somewhere.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2824

There are pumpkins everywhere. It isn't even October yet. I've even seen Christmas lights in a few stores. Couldn't we just give it a rest? I'm sure that some of these early pumpkins will rot before Halloween even arrives. I used to dutifully get pumpkins every year to decorate the front porch. They would often sit there until February when I would eventually notice that they had turned into a pile of mush.

I don't buy pumpkins anymore. We don't cook a big turkey on Thanksgiving either. There is still a tree at Christmas, but it is a very small simple tree. I think I have finally mastered downsizing the holidays. Now, if I could just figure out how to downsize everything else.

I'm going to miss those pictures of Saturn from Cassini. I wonder what the team in charge of this mission is going to do now? They spent more than a decade working together to learn about the planet and now their spacecraft is gone. I wonder if I'll see other missions on this kind of a grand scale in my lifetime? People still thought big when Cassini-Huygens was conceived in 1988. More than 5000 people worked on the project during it's lifetime. The 22 foot tall spacecraft weighed over 12,000 pounds and traveled almost 5 billion miles to take hundreds of thousands of pictures and discover 6 new moons. I wish were still doing things like this. We still could if we weren't tearing ourselves apart with hatred and bickering.

Maybe this is why I'm not all that excited about the iPhone X. We've gone from discovering the universe to discovering new ways to take a selfie. Who am I to criticize though. The folks in silicon valley who are discovering new ways to communicate with emojis are still doing more than I am. All I did today was go to the gym and use the wet/dry vacuum to suck more water from under the shower tiles.

I was looking for some alternate dog walking shoes while my boots are at the shoe repair shop. In a dusty corner of my closet, I found a pair of my Dad's boots I used to wear when it snowed. I forgot I even had these boots because it hasn't snowed much lately. What was amazing is that even though these boots were over fifty years old, they were still in better condition than most brand new shoes today. My Dad wore these shoes trapping animals in Alaska. I've worn them off and on for decades and they still look like they could last a lifetime. I know I sound like a broken record talking about shoddy, disposable products, but it's true. Nothing is built to last anymore.

I think I spotted the tip of a new nail starting to grow where Dash ripped his dewclaw out. He still doesn't want me near the area, so I try to clean the wound with saline solution while he is asleep. I'll be glad when his dewclaw has grown back. Dash is not a good patient. I still have to have him wear the cone whenever I'm not watching him closely.

My allergies didn't seem so bad today. I still used a lot of Kleenex and Visine, but it wasn't like yesterday. It's weird how the amount of pollen in the air can vary so much from day to day. I'm going to have to start checking the pollen count every morning.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2652

Maybe I should start shopping on Sunday. There were no blueberries yesterday, so I went back to look for some this morning. The entire produce section had been restocked and everything looked much fresher. I got the blueberries I wanted and kind of wished that I'd waited until today to get the strawberries too.

I mowed the lawn for the first time in 2017. Like it or not, Summer is on its way. Every time I get the lawn mower out for a new season of cutting the grass, it seems heavier and more cumbersome than the year before. I wonder how many more years I can continue doing this. Eventually, I'll probably have to start using a lawn service like everyone else in the neighborhood. If the yard was flat it wouldn't be a bit deal. The hills are starting to be a problem. I've grown to hate pushing the mower up the hill in the front yard.

When I walked Dash this morning I saw the coyote again. I was surprised that the coyote was out in the open so late in the day. We got a late start this morning and I didn't walk Dash until after 9 AM. Several neighbors say they've seen two coyotes together. This probably means there is a den and cubs nearby. I probably should worry more about snakes than the coyotes. It is getting warm enough that the snakes are starting to emerge as well. I've learned to avoid the areas where snakes are abundant, but the coyote seems to like the same part of the park that Dash does. We see it frequently now.

This was another day when I was already tired before I even made it to the gym. I went anyway though. If I only went to the gym when I was feeling fresh and energetic, I'd probably never go at all. Since it was a nice Spring day, the gym was virtually empty. I like it this way, because there is seldom anyone using the basketball court. Midway through my workout it occurred to me that I might have left a gate open when I took the lawn mower back to the greenhouse. I always worry about the accidental open gate, because it wouldn't take Dash long to discover it. I called Janet and I guess I secured the gate after all. My memory is really getting bad.

We decided to walk Dot at sunset today, so she wouldn't get so hot. This worked out well. She actually seemed to have more energy than I thought she would. I guess sunset walks are going to be our new routine as the weather continues to grow warmer. This isn't the most convenient time of day for me, but it's easy enough to rearrange my schedule. I wonder why I even bother with a schedule anymore. It's become pretty clear that it doesn't really matter when I do things, or even if I do things.

I had to get up early this morning to take Dot out to pee. The sky was still dark, so after I took Dot back to her bed, I went outside again and looked at the stars. I enjoy stargazing, although it sure would be nice if the sky over our yard wasn't a solid canopy of trees. Despite the partially obscured view, I spotted Saturn to the left of the moon and Jupiter low on the western horizon. I could easily see four of Jupiter's moons through the binoculars, but I had trouble seeing Saturn's rings. Maybe sometime soon I'll have the time and energy to get the telescope out. I could easily see Saturn's rings through the telescope.

The only thing on my plate next week is a trip to the dentist. I'm not looking forward to that.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day