Day 2335

I dutifully took my pictures of the bathroom faucets up to the plumbing showroom this morning and showed them to the staff. They had hundreds of nice looking faucets on display, but they were all too big. A patient lady looked through catalogs with me as we tried to find something that would fit my 1950's sink. The problem is that everything has gotten bigger since the 1950's. Sofas are bigger. Refrigerators are bigger. Even bathroom fixtures are bigger.  After an extensive search we finally found a single modern looking European faucet set that looked like it might work. It cost $1000.  Jeez, I could buy an entirely new pedestal sink with faucets attached for much less than that. This is what is so discouraging about keeping old houses, old cars, and old cameras working properly. You just can't find the parts.

I temporarily gave up on the bathroom sink and returned to more pressing matters like getting groceries, changing the sheets, and making sure that Dot's bedding was clean. It's time to mow the grass again, but my allergies are so bad that I can't stand to be outside for that long. Actually, I think grass seed is one of the many things I'm allergic to.

I upgraded the firmware in my new camera this afternoon. I dread upgrading firmware, because the instructions are totally incomprehensible and there are always warnings that if you don't follow these instructions exactly, you will ruin your camera. I approached things slowly and methodically, but when the moment of truth arrived, the new firmware failed to load. I did a Google search for people who were having similar problems installing this version of firmware and of course I found dozens of horror stories of other failures. The firmware files are first downloaded to your computer and then transferred to an SD card which is inserted in the camera. After much fruitless searching, I eventually noticed a post from a man who said my camera would not recognize the firmware if it had been transferred to a fast high capacity SDHC card. He suggested formatting an older slow card instead. I followed his instructions and everything worked. This was kind of ironic, since the camera had been specifically designed to use the latest high speed memory cards.

Dot is off schedule again. Every time I left the house, I expected to come home to a huge mess. I'm still waiting. I have no idea what makes Dot poop, or in this case, not poop. It all seems totally random. Probably the long awaited moment will happen about an hour after I go to sleep this evening. It wasn't all bad news though. Dot had more energy today and did well on both her walks, even though it is starting to get warmer.

I could spend the entire day tomorrow vacuuming the house and mowing the grass. Hopefully, I'll find something more appealing to do with my time. Maybe I'll go to the gym. I need to quit stopping at the sporting goods store on the way to the gym.  I'm just about broke already this month and I definitely don't need any more discount Winter jackets. It's hard to resist a bargain though. The big going out of business sale will be over in a week or so anyway, so I won't have to worry about it anymore.

It's been a long day. The dogs are already resting peacefully, but we'll need to get them up one more time to give them their evening pills. Maybe we'll get to sleep in late tomorrow. It doesn't happen often, but it's always a worthy goal.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2329

We slept in late this morning. By the time we took the dogs on their morning walk, the sun was already high in a bright blue sky. It was a beautiful day. I'm sure I suffer from seasonal affective disorder to some degree, because a bright sunny day improves my mood immeasurably. Bacon helps too, so after a hearty breakfast, I was ready to get something done.

I looked at the long range weather and saw enough clear days ahead to make it worthwhile to clear the roof of water again. I push the large flat broom with my left hand now because my right shoulder continues to get worse. It's weird that a lot of exercises at the gym don't bother my shoulder at all, but getting the water off the roof is a killer. After the roof was dry,  washed the car.  I often wash the car on nice days because it just makes me feel good.

I still had some energy left after finishing my Sunday chores, so I went to the gym. Lately, I've been stopping at the defunct Sports Authority store I pass along the way to add to my stash of bargains. Winter things are marked down the most, so I picked up a pair of gloves and a wool hat today. Getting all these Winter things is actually optimistic. On some subconscious level, my brain is telling me that I'm going to be around for another year.

I wish I could say the same for Dot. She continues to get weaker. The weather was nice this morning and there was a cool breeze, but Dot seemed tired and occasionally I would see her rear legs start to crisscross as we walked. This is never a good sign. When we returned home, she spent the rest of the day sleeping, but she didn't rebound much even after a long rest. I walked Dash alone this evening while Janet took Dot on a very short walk down the back alley. That was all she felt like doing today.

The house didn't get vacuumed this week, but that's OK. Work has gotten so slow that this will give me something to do tomorrow. I could always clean the office, but a clean office just means that nothing is happening. I'd much rather have lots of projects underway in a messy, cluttered office that sitting around wondering what to do in a tidy clean one. Maybe things will pick up next week. One of my clients is on vacation and I'm hoping he'll have some work for me when he returns.

It's hard to believe it's May already. Dash has a birthday in a few weeks and then in June it's my birthday again. This year has positively flown by. I'm sure lots has happened, but all I really remember is endlessly cleaning up dog poop and removing standing water from the roof. There's a fresh supply of strawberries, blueberries and bananas to make my morning smoothies. All the April bills have been paid. Dot and Dash are sleeping peacefully now. I think we're ready for whatever a new month brings our way.

Betsy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2301

It was a busy day. I updated the operating system on my phone, vacuumed the house, washed the car, polished some shoes, and went to the gym. The dogs seemed content to sleep in late this morning, but I was already up. I woke up around 4 AM to clean up a mess that Dot had made in her bed and couldn't get back to sleep. I don't even think Dot realizes that she poops in her sleep. The incontinence has become so routine that I managed to clean everything up and start a load of laundry without waking anyone. Even Dot didn't wake up.

It still amazes me that I can fill up an entire Dyson canister with dirt and dog hair and the rugs and carpets don't look any better. The canister full of dirt is the only evidence I have that I've actually cleaned the house. Cleaning the car is more satisfying because at least it looks a little better when I'm finished.

On the way to the gym, I stopped at a kitchen store to look for a bread knife to replace the one I lost last month. I don't know how you can completely lose a bread knife that always stays in the kitchen, but I did. I noticed that a nearby Sports Authority store was closing, so I went inside to look for bargains. The store was filled with garish signs saying that everything must go and advertising close-out prices that were up to 50% off.  I'll have to go back again because the store was way too crowded for my taste, but I did manage to find some slip on sandals that I can use to take the dogs out in the middle of the night.

I must have been the youngest person at the gym this afternoon, and I'm not very young. I guess old people are the only ones who would choose to stay inside and walk on a treadmill on a beautiful Spring day like this. The handful of octogenarians in the gym was fine by me. I like doing things when the rest of the world is doing something else. I had a good workout and I didn't miss the sunshine either. I'd already taken Dash on a nice long walk in the park.

It's a good thing that I got a lot of errands done today, because I'll have to be home all day tomorrow while the landscapers are here. I've got to keep an eye on Dot, because sometimes she gets upset when she sees people in the backyard. Since Dot can't hear very well anymore, there's a good chance that she'll sleep through the whole thing, but I don't want to take any chances. Dot still thinks she's a guard dog, but she can barely move and could easily hurt herself if she's trying to run around and bark at strangers like she used to.

I'm starting to see some really pretty Irises behind our house. I see them every Spring. Our next door neighbor planted the flowers over twenty years ago. He died of leukemia almost fifteen years ago, but the exotic looking Irises still remain. When I see these blooms, they remind me of a time when neighbors were actually friends.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1846

I'm glad this day is over. It was so cold this morning that I didn't even want to get out of bed. The dogs didn't want to get out of bed either. I think they knew that this was a day when they would have to wear their warmest winter coats. It looked nice outside, but looks can be deceiving. Even though the sky was clear and blue, the temperature was in the low twenties and there was a stiff wind. It felt like we were heading toward the North Pole.

Have I mentioned that I hate to work on Sundays? Sometimes it's unavoidable though.  Several of my clients seem to work 24 hours a day and I've found that if I don't deal with their requests right away, I tend to forget about them. Forgetting doesn't tend to make people happy. This is why I found myself doing a lot of website work today. It's much easier to work on Sunday than to try to remember what you were supposed to do on Monday. I'm not sure if I got everything right today, but at least I made an effort.

I made an effort to go to the gym today as well. I wish I actually enjoyed going to the gym, but for me it's kind of like eating Kale. I know it's good for me, but I'd much rather be watching Dr. Who while I was eating a sausage and bacon pizza. I'm discovering that if I modify some of my workout routines a bit, I can get in quite a bit of the stretching that my physical therapist wants. I'm always trying to kill two birds with one stone. The less I have to do the better. I had a very good workout today, but as I was cooling down shooting free throws on the basketball court, I found myself thinking "Three more to go, two more to go, etc" I usually enjoy sinking baskets, but not today.

On my way to the gym, I stopped at a Sports Authority store to get some running shoe glue I'd seen on their website. When I told the manager what I was looking for, he just laughed. "We don't want you to repair running shoes," he told me with a smile. "We want you to buy new ones." There you have it. The guy managed to explain our entire economy in a single sentence.

I just looked at my calendar and every single day is filled with either a vet appointment or a physical therapy appointment. That's my week. If you work out of your house and actually want to get anything done, it's really hard to do more than one thing that requires driving somewhere else each day. My plate is full.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1797

It's been cold recently, so I decided to get a pair of those compression pants I always see runners and cyclists wearing. You can put on as many sweaters and jackets as you like, but a pair of blue jeans just doesn't offer much protection from the cold. Twenty years ago I would have just bought some old fashioned cotton long underwear, but you don't see that stuff in regular stores anymore. I figured that the local Sports Authority store would have what I needed and sure enough they did. There was a whole section of high tech "cold wear," which basically looked just like women's yoga pants except that they were twice as expensive. "Don't you have anything with pockets in them," I asked the sales guy? Nope. No pockets anywhere. "I guess that's why men always seem to wear a ridiculous pair of baggy shorts on top of these things," I said. "Exactly," said the sales guy.

Even with their drawbacks, these tight fitting leggings did seem to provide an easy alternative to freezing on dog walks, so I bought a pair. Now I know why Under Armor has been such a hot stock for the past several years. These guys are the Apple Computer of underwear. There is no logical reason why a pair of spandex leggings should cost so much.

I was expecting to wake up to freezing rain this morning, but we had the non-freezing kind instead. There were reports of sleet a little north of us, but even though it was pretty damp, the temperature stayed above freezing all day. The dogs didn't seem to mind walking in the light mist. I think the cold weather invigorates them. I wish the cold invigorated me, since we've got a lot of cold days ahead. I've never liked the cold though and the best I can do is just try to stay warm.

I had to choose between cabin fever and getting the car dirty this afternoon, and surprisingly I choose to go to the gym anyway. On cold, wet days like this, my office is always the coldest room in the house. Somehow, a good workout at the gym seemed a much better way to stay warm than sitting at the computer and revising websites.

We had beef stew and cornbread for dinner tonight. The only thing missing was a roaring fire in the fireplace. Oops. We don't even have a fireplace. We do have two warm dogs though. That's almost as good. I think I'll go curl up with the dogs and hope for a warmer day tomorrow.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day