Day 4833

I'm happy to report that today was an absolutely normal Sunday. Dawn got her Sunday outing again and she was more than pleased to resume her routine. She was still a little unsteady in the car, but I sat in the back seat with her to keep her from falling. We took a shorter walk than normal, but she had plenty of time to smell things and eat grass. I wish she wouldn't try to eat grass. Unfortunately every dog we've ever had has liked to nibble at fresh Spring grass.

Of course we went for ice cream after our walk. The ice cream store raised their prices again. Jeez. We might have to start going to Dairy Queen if this continues. The ice cream was still good though. Hey, little extravagances are worth it if your dog likes them.

The day started normally enough. We took Dawn on a short sunrise walk and she did very well. After seeing how well she did, we decided that she was ready for her Sunday outings again. The only thing we've got to be careful about now is her tendency to jump on and off the bed. She knows she is supposed to use the step at the base of the bed now, but if you aren't watching her, she will still try to jump. None of this is all that strange. Not only is Dawn a dog, she's a very stubborn Dalmatian.

I fixed French Toast for breakfast this morning. It's the one thing that Janet says I make better than she does. As usual I made and ate too much. There's no sense in having left over French Toast so I ate twice as much as I should. It's a good thing that Sundays are filled with lots of walks.

There was nothing new at the mall this week. A noticed very few changes as I made my five laps around the perimeter. There were a few more Spring styles in the windows, but that was about it. The place was crowded with walkers and very noisy this week. Maybe I just didn't get there early enough. This seems to be the favorite place for families to take small children on a weekend. Many of the kids were in strollers, but some of the older ones pushed their own little strollers which carried their dolls. 

Going to and from the mall is the only time I listen to the radio. I never listen to music and only listen to NPR is there is a show about science or the economy. If they are talking about some social or political issue I turn the radio off. Today I listened to one show about the shortage of cadavers for anatomy students in today's medical schools. On the way home I listened to another show about the economics of running an airline. Steven Dubner's Freakonomics Radio is always an interesting show.

Since the living room looks a lot better after I bleached the leak stains in the ceiling, I thought I'd try the same thing in the office. This was a harder task since there is a carpet on the floor and the room is filled with junk that could be discolored by bleach. I found an old plastic shower curtain that we had to use when one of our dogs became incontinent while still insisting on sleeping on the bed. This actually worked pretty well to protect the carpet. The room looks better now although you can still see some stains and there are cracks in the sheetrock. Oh, well. This will do for now. Eventually we will replace the damaged sheetrock throughout the house, but that's a ways down the road.

This weekend really went quickly. There is a lot I need to do next week if I can get myself motivated. Bulky trash day is coming soon and I still need to finish raking leaves. I also need to see if I can find where the water is still getting in on the roof before it rains again on Thursday. It's questionable if any of this will happen, but we'll see. 

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4819

Today was a good day. The weather was almost perfect, but more importantly, Dawn is back to normal again. We may never know what was wrong with her yesterday. I suspect that she just pulled a muscle or something when she got too wild during her grocery day shenanigans. She gets very excited and races around the house when Janet brings home the groceries. At any rate, we saw no signs of problems today. She walked normally and had no problems getting on and off the bed.

If it's Sunday, I go walking at the mall. I went earlier this morning and the place was almost empty. I need to remember this since I'm perpetually trying to avoid crowds. I can't get over how much the place changes from week to week. I always see stores that have closed and others that have just opened. A surprising number of businesses seem to just move from one location in the mall to another. You have to watch where you're going while mall walking. So many people never look up from their phones while walking that you'd bump into them if you didn't move out of their way. I see this in the park as well. We have an entire nation of people who've become addicted to their phones. The young people are the worst. Very rarely l'll see an older couple actually talking to each other without a phone in sight.

Since Dawn was feeling better we took her on a Sunday outing this morning. She seems to enjoy new places now, so we drove her to the other side of the lake. We didn't take a long walk because we didn't want to push our luck, but Dawn had a good time smelling new things and looking for critters. As always we ended our outing with a trip to the ice cream store. The ice cream cones are no bargain, but it's a nice little Sunday treat. Even though Dawn rides terribly in the car, the ice cream seems to calm her. On the way home from the ice cream store she appears almost normal.

I thought about going up on the roof this afternoon and looking for the remaining leak, but quickly changed my mind when I realized what was involved. Chances of failure were very high and I really didn't want to deal with the messy silicon coating again. Even though I keep a roller on the roof to spread the stuff around, I always seem to get some of the Armor Flex on my hands and clothing. I still need to try this before the next rain though. My last attempt slowed down the leaks considerably. If I can just find where the remaining water is getting through, I may be able to stop the leaks entirely. I'm probably being too optimistic, but I need to give it a try.

Instead of going up on the roof, I vacuumed the carpets instead. I need to do this more often because the carpets were really dirty today. Dawn used to sit on the bed and stare at me while I cleaned the bedroom. Not anymore. She left the room and wouldn't come back until I was finished and put the vacuum cleaner away. She wouldn't stay in the room when I took a short nap after I finished my chores either. It's kind of sad. If Janet isn't around to keep her safe, Dawn wants nothing to do with me.

I'm going to have to call the roofers tomorrow because they seem to have disappeared. Several weeks ago I couldn't get rid of the guys. Now it's crickets. I need to get this job scheduled so we can get on with our lives. A new roof won't solve all my problems, but it will certainly help.

Hopefully tomorrow is an uneventful day with no surprises. A day where nothing happens is always a good day as far as I'm concerned.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4609

I think I like mall walking. The air is clean, filtered, and just the right temperature. No seasonal allergy problems at all. There are also no bugs. The place is well lit, but you don't get sunburned. I don't hear constant police and fire sirens like I do when I'm walking in the park. I actually like that the stores are closed. The latest trends are on display in every window, but there are no irritating salespeople asking if you need help. If you did see something you liked, you could just buy it online. Every store in the mall has a website. 

I used to hate malls because they were so crowded, but there are relitively few walkers before the stores open. The walkers all seem like nice people too. There are no pan handlers or crazy people wandering around trying to harrass you. It's also really easy to find a parking place before the stores open. Granted, this is not real life, but I'll take it. Real life is ugly and messy these days.

Northpark has a great art collection. I try to learn a little about the artists as I'm walking. Most of the art on display is sculpture, but there are a few large scale paintings as well. Each piece has a little plaque with information about the artist. This stuff has always been here but I never paid much attention before. It's interesting. Today the mall had new cars on display. I think they do this every year before the new model year begins. Cars have really gotten expensive. Luxury cars are around $100,000 now and regular cars seem to start around $50,000. The real expensive cars are always displayed near Neiman Marcus and the cheaper cars are down at the other end of the mall around Macys. There are a ton of police patrolling the mall. It feels pretty safe. I wish the park had half as many police. I've seen some pretty strange things in the park.

Since I did my mall walking early, there was still plenty of time for Dawn's Sunday outing. It was a little cooler this morning, so we thought she might like to spend a little more time outside. Nope. It was still too hot for her. She peed quickly and headed straight back to the car. I think she knows that the Sunday outing is all about the ice cream now. For the second week in a row we tried to buy a pint of our favorite flavor to take home with us and the store was out of it. The cones were good though.

I did a bunch of little odds and ends around the house this afternoon, but didn't really accomplish much. I watered plants, swept the porch, recharged device batteries, made another attempt to fix the leaking toilet, and oiled some sticking locks. Dawn doesn't mind when I nap with her now. I don't think we're best buddies yet, but she's not frightened of me anymore. I think that week we spent together while Janet was on vacation turned out to be quality time. This is all good news to me. I like to take naps and it's much easier if your dog approves.

It's back to the gym tomorrow. There's no point in mall walking when the stores are open. I hope I hear something from NASA this week. The launch is getting closer and I still know virtually nothing. All I have is a short cryptic note saying that my request for press credentials has been approved. I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't make the trip at all. So far, this event has caused me a lot more stress than joy. I do have an article to write though. The magazine would be very disappointed if I wasn't there at the launch.

There is a 40% chance of rain next Wednesday. Usually the rain seems to miss our house even when there is a 100% chance of rain, but one can still hope. We really need the rain.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4091

I'm still fighting these allergies. The Flonase works pretty well at clearing my nasal passages, but I've still got the runny nose. I did sleep better last night because I didn't wake up several times completely congested and breathing through my mouth. I guess this is progress, but I still feel like I've got pepper up my nose.

I vacuumed and did some small chores around the house, but it was hard to get motivated. I successfully repaired Dawn's collar although I still don't know how it became damaged. When a dog gets used to wearing a collar, they become very nervous when you take it off. All our dogs have been this way. Dawn didn't look pleased when I took the collar off to glue it back together and seemed quite relieved when I put it back around her neck a few hours later.

Janet joined me on my long walk today. I've noticed that I walk a little faster when we walk together. Usually each mile I walk is little slower than the last, but we kept a pretty steady pace today. Neither of us is setting the world on fire, but I think we're doing pretty well for 72. We're both in better shape than a lot of 40 year olds.

I never did have any reaction to the Covid shots. Even the minor soreness at the injection site is gone now. It still seems strange that people react so differently to this disease. Some people get infected and die. Other people get infected and aren't even aware they have the disease. So far, I've only known two people who have gotten sick and both recovered quickly. Nobody in my immediate circle of friends has gotten sick. It pays to be careful though. Our house has never been struck by a tornado either, but I know it could happen at any time.

The Starliner launch I've been hoping to go to in Florida has been postponed again. This is probably a good thing. I'm hoping that the closer we get to Summer, the more relaxed that current Covid restrictions are going to get. It's going to be a lot easier for me to get press accreditation for my small, obscure magazine when the world returns to normal. I'm pretty confident that I'll be going somewhere this year. I just don't know when or where.

Maybe by the time I start traveling again my seasonal allergies will be over for the year. That alone would make any trip a lot more enjoyable. Last March when I went out to McDonald Observatory I thought I would leave my allergies behind. Nope. They followed me out there and I ran through two rolls of blue Scott shop towels blowing my nose. Every single year this happens. You can look back through the blog archives and see for yourself.

This weekend really went quickly. We had a wonderful dinner tonight, but tomorrow it's back to fruit smoothies and leftovers. I guess I'll take my tax files over to the accountant tomorrow. You never get a refund when nothing has been withheld, but hopefully I won't get hit too bad this year. I wouldn't mind paying taxes if I could choose where the money went. As it stands now, I'm convinced that anything I give to the government will just be wasted.

We won't be going up to visit the Dalmatians tomorrow because the kennel is too busy with Spring Break boarders. Spring Break is still a mystery to me. I don't ever remember getting off for Spring Break when I was in school.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3916

Busy day. Any day with over 24,000 steps is a busy day in my book. I finally got caught up on a number of chores I've been trying to avoid. I started by removing the standing water from the roof. A lot of the water had already evaporated because it hasn't rained for several days, but there was still plenty of water that needed to be removed. If I leave the water too long, algae starts to grow. It's a mess.

While I was up on the roof, I noticed that some scrub bushes on the Western side of the carport had been cut. I didn't do this, although I'd been meaning to remove the bushes for months. I asked Janet and she didn't remove the bushes either. It must have been my neighbor. Weird. Why would anyone come on my property and remove these bushes? Sure they were ugly, but they weren't hurting anything. I wonder when this happened? It could have been months ago. I never go on that side of the house.

While I was waiting for the electric mower to get charged, I removed some vines that were taking over a Hackberry tree in the front yard. These troublesome vines seem to come back every year and if I don't remove them, they will kill the tree. My ongoing battle with nature is never ending. Fire ants and weeds keep trying to overtake the front yard. Dead limbs from the large Oak trees periodically fall in the back yard. Water is always trying to penetrate the roof. I get tired of fighting these battles, but what is the alternative? Living in a downtown high-rise certainly isn't the answer. I'll take weeds and ants over noisy neighbors and a homeowners association any day.

After I finished mowing the grass, the yard looked a lot better. Around this time of year I start thinking that I might not have to mow any more, but I'm usually wrong. If we have a mild Winter, I often have to mow in December. We live so near the park that all kinds of seeds blow into the yard and weeds of all kinds proliferate. Sometimes I try to pretend that the weeds are grass. I mowed a little patch of them in the back yard today and they don't look half bad.

We had a nice walk this morning. Maybe the cooler weather really is here for good. The leaves haven't started to turn yet, but it is definitely starting to feel like Fall. The sky looked a little odd today. It was a clear day, but the normal blue color wasn't there. I wonder if some of the smoke from the West Coast fires has reached as far as Texas? From the pictures you see, it seems like the prevailing winds are blowing most of the smoke out to sea. If some of the ash reaches a high enough altitude though, it could be carried eastward by the jet stream.

I've spent a lot of time in some of the areas where they are having wildfires in Oregon and Northern California. It's very sad to see these areas burn. The wildfires appear every year. I always keep wondering why they don't remove the underbrush and dead trees that provide kindling for these fires? Surely this would be less expensive than repairing the damage caused by the fires. There used to be a lot of logging in this part of the country but there weren't nearly as many fires. Could it be that the loggers weren't as bad as people thought? They certainly planted tons of new trees to replace the one they cut.

I'm glad I had an opportunity to see the country before everything started falling apart. The United States was such a beautiful place when I was growing up. I miss those days.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3895

There was no need to go to the gym today. After walking and mowing the grass I felt like I had all the exercise I needed. Around this time of year I start thinking that I might not need to mow any more. I even thought that today. Late August is ridiculously early though for these type of thoughts. The leaves are still on the trees and the Fall rainy season hasn't even started yet. Our grass is often still green in December.

We got a late start this morning on our walk and the park was already filling up with people. We probably should have started earlier, but it was clear that we needed the extra sleep. Without an alarm to wake us, we slept two hours longer than usual. Dawn certainly wasn't interested in getting up. The only thing that gets her out of bed is the sound of her breakfast being fixed. It was a little warmer than we would have liked, but we all did pretty well. I think we'll go back to pre-dawn walks tomorrow.

I wasted a lot of time today watching a static fire test of the SN-6 Starship prototype. It took three tries and most of the day before the rocket motors actually fired. The guys who put this coverage together on their YouTube channel have a lot of patience. There were several false starts today. The rocket would be filled with fuel and then emptied again when something didn't go right. Basically nothing happens for hours at a time and then eventually the rocket fires for about five seconds. Watching these events is definitely an acquired taste. I didn't watch today's tests continuously, but I kept a window open on my browser and checked in on progress throughout the day. I think next week this rocket will fly on a short hop, just like its predecessor did a few weeks ago. If I go down to Boca Chica, I think I'll wait until the program is a little further along. Before the end of the year, Space X is supposed to be making much longer hops with a more polished looking rocket that has fins, a nose cone and two extra Raptor engines. The more I watch this Boca Chica channel on YouTube, the more interested I become in seeing a Starship launch. I'm going to try to make some contacts and see what happens.

When I walk in the park on weekend afternoons, I always see tons of people sitting in hammocks. I don't understand the fascination with hammocks. On a nice day, they're everywhere. Young people string them between two trees and then spend the rest of the afternoon taking selfies and looking at their cell phones. I don't get it. If this is what passes for enjoying nature these days, we're all doomed.

Can you believe it's going to be September soon? What a wasted year. Maybe next year will be better.  The cynical side of me says the virus will disappear from the news right after the November elections. Realistically, I think it's going to be with us for a very long time. New cases keep cropping up in countries that supposedly have already eradicated it. What's going to happen when everyone gets the flu this Fall and thinks they've got the virus instead? The hypochondriac's are going to be panicking. I'm going to continue to keep my distance. Seems to have worked so far.

Janet and I eat a traditional breakfast together on the weekends. Tomorrow it's back to my fruit smoothies though. Where am I going to find uncontaminated peaches. I've got plenty of strawberries, blueberries and bananas, but good smoothie has got to include a peach.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3818

Today was futile task day. I tried and failed to fix a security light in the driveway. I think I discovered the problem though. Wasps had built a nest inside the motion sensor. I managed to kill the wasps, but the bug spray probably didn't do what remained of the sensor any good. I thought I'd get rid of a few more wasp nests while I was outside, but they build them back so fast that I don't know why I even bothered.

My big task for the day was cleaning the atrium. I managed to pry open the broken sliding glass door just wide enough for me to squeeze inside with a broom and a bottle of Windex. I tried to lubricate the door tracks with a silicon spray designed for balky garage doors, but it didn't do much good. One, or perhaps several, of the track wheels have broken and jam when you try to move the door. The atrium does look better now. It's just impossible to use as it was intended. I probably won't try to open the door again for another six months. I'm always afraid it will become permanently jammed in an open position. Since there appears to be nobody in creation who is able to fix this oversize sliding glass door, this would be very bad.

We figured out that we would have to leave at 5 AM to beat the morning runners and cyclists on our walk with Dawn. That would get us home at 7 AM when the morning rush usually starts. We left at 6 AM this morning and the trails were quiet for a while. The tranquility didn't last though. By the time we returned home the park was packed. The good thing about these early walks is that the weather is still cool enough for Dawn. She did well today and we felt good about completing our full five miles.

I still take an afternoon walk, although I don't really know why. It is very hot and there are far to many people in the park. I still keep my distance from these people, but clearly nobody cares about social distancing anymore. There are large groups having picnics and crowds routinely gather around the ice cream truck and the kayak rental stand. After all the mass protests, I think it will be impossible to institute another lockdown if there is a second wave of virus infections. Everyone has moved on and they just don't care about the virus anymore. Very odd, since infections are still increasing in Texas.

It's time to mow the grass again but I just could bring myself to start the mower. The house feels like an old friend who has let me down. Everything is shabby and falling apart. It's hard to get excited about yard work and even harder to get excited about major renovations. We live in a neighborhood where virtually all the small houses like ours are eventually torn down to build McMansions when they are sold. It seems crazy to put a lot of money into a house that will just be torn down.

I saw the International Space Station for a final time this evening. I worked up my nerve to walk to a good viewing spot in the park with a pair of binoculars. It was a good thing that I brought the binoculars because the station was fairly dim this time. The sky was clear, but it was much further away. The first time I saw it on Thursday evening was definitely the best.

Maybe I'll try to contact Sky and Telescope and the Air Force media office tomorrow. I've been very patient. It's about time I heard something from these guys.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3370

I'm glad I saw Apollo 11. The film got mixed reviews, but I think that anyone who is old enough to remember the event will agree with me. This wasn't just a movie, it was a time machine. The 65mm footage of the launch itself was spectacular, but what struck me the most were all the little details that brought the sixties back to life. Everybody smoked back then. It was amazing to see how many of the engineers and technicians at mission control were smoking cigarettes and pipes. Each of the flight controllers had a black rotary dial land line phone next to their console. Reporters were calling in their stories using pay phones. Some were typing on small portable manual typewriters. The men had crew cuts and a surprising number of women had beehive hairdos. This is exactly the way it was. It's funny how modern I thought the world was when I was in college. Back then I couldn't have imagined the world we live in today.

You can forget a lot in fifty years. As I was exiting the theater, a couple of older looking guys were commenting on the film. "How old were you when we went to the moon," one guy asked. "I was 8," his friend replied. "I was 6," the other guy said. Good grief. I must be really old. I was in college when the launch happened. The guys ahead of me at the theater looked old enough to be retired and I was at least ten years older than them. I not only remember Alan Shepard and John Glenn's first flights, I remember Ham the monkey. I was pretty young at the time, but I even remember Sputnik 1 in 1957.

When I went to the theater this afternoon I realized I was totally out of the loop. The guy at the ticket counter asked me to pick a seat on a touch screen. "I can't just go inside and sit where I want," I said. "No," said the attendant. "You have to pick a seat first." I guess even going to the movies is done on your phone now. You can get your ticket and pick a seat in advance. That explained why some of the best seats were already taken, even though the theater was almost empty when I went inside. I was so confused that I ended up sitting in the wrong row. "But it says Row G right on my ticket," I said to the guy next to me. "No, this is a G-Rated film," he explained to me. "Your seat is over there."

Later today, I watched another short film on my computer called Seattle is Dying. What a contrast. Apollo 11 was an incredibly optimistic story about one of the greatest achievements in human history.    Seattle is Dying is basically a cautionary tale about how civilization is literally crumbling under our feet. I guess that's the difference between 1969 and 2019. I used to live in Seattle. It was a great place in the early 70's. Seattle used to be called the Emerald City because it was so beautiful. The city now has one of the highest crime rates in the country. Drug abuse and homelessness are out of control. Parts of the city look like a third world country. Citizens don't feel safe anymore. You wonder how things deteriorated so quickly. It's sad. No wonder I would prefer to live in 1969.

It was nice to have a break from the usual Sunday chores today. I didn't really miss going to the gym. I'll catch up on chores tomorrow. The only useful thing I did today was make some temporary repairs to the balky French toilet. I've discovered that there's a weird little rubber piston in the flush mechanism that causes the toilet to run if it gets dirty. Periodically, I take the piston assembly apart and clean all the parts with alcohol. This usually fixes things for a few months.

Dash had a good day. He was still as slow as molasses, but he really enjoyed his outings in the park. The weather was beautiful and there were lots of things to smell. I wish I could do a better job of keeping him from stumbling. I do the best I can and we're still walking, so I guess that's all that counts. I evidently didn't do a great job of cleaning him up last night when he pooped either. He still had a brown tail when I woke up this morning.

I promised myself that I'll get started on my taxes tomorrow. I don't always keep my promises though.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3314

If you have trouble sleeping, it's just a matter of time before you eventually end up buying one of those My Pillows. The commercials are relentless. I can't turn on the TV anymore without seeing the My Pillow guy. Sooner or later you think "What have I got to lose," and you buy one. I wasn't looking for a pillow today, but ended up getting one when I saw it on sale. We'll see if it makes any difference. If I get even a single additional hour of sleep a night, it would be well worth the price. I'll have to say I'm a bit skeptical though. Shredded foam pillows aren't exactly rocket science. I think my parents used these type of pillows when I was a kid.

What I was really looking for today was a better way to waterproof the bed than the shower curtain we're currently using. I think I found that too. I ended up getting a tent footprint, which is a piece of waterproof fabric that campers put under their tent to protect the floor from damage. These footprints tended to be smaller than your typical tarp and fit nicely under Dash's blankets on the bed. Like my new pillow, we'll see how it works tonight.

Today was even colder than yesterday. There was no wind though, so it was reasonably pleasant to go outside. Yesterday's thirty mile per hour winds were pretty brutal. We still dressed very warmly today, but compared to yesterday, our morning walk was a piece of cake. Dash still does well on these walks, even though he's having increasing trouble walking around in the house. We keep bringing home more rugs, but I don't know if they're doing a lot of good. It's so easy for Dash to lose his balance and fall.

Sunday has turned into the busiest day of the week. Our walks tend to be longer on Sunday. I almost always go to the gym and then come home and vacuum the house. Sometimes I do other chores as well. My Fitbit loves days like these, but I find them tiring. I could clean the house or go to the gym any day, but old habits die hard. I still do things almost exactly the same as I did while I was working.

I was hoping to see the Saints and the Chiefs in the Superbowl but it wasn't meant to be. The Saints lost after officials clearly missed calling pass interference late in the game. The Chiefs basically lost when they didn't win the overtime coin toss. What does this prove? I guess it proves that life isn't fair.  These were both exciting, well played games, but I'm tired of seeing the Patriots in the Superbowl.

The lunar eclipse has started. It's a little cloudy, but the moon is clearly visible. The moon is so high in the sky that I don't see any dramatic photo opportunities. I'll take a few shots anyway. I'm sure I'll be asleep before the eclipse is over. The days when I'd sit in a lawn chair and watch things like this for hours at a time are long gone. It's way too cold outside and I've seen the moon before. It's always worth another look though. Just before I went to bed I went outside again and the sky had completely cleared. There it was in all its glory: the Super Blood Wolf Moon. Now I think I'll go try out my new pillow.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3230

Sometimes when I'm at the gym I think about the nature of memory. How many memories are actually stored away in our brains? I never think about the gym unless I'm actually there, but while I'm doing my exercises I have very distinct memories of doing these routines many times before. The sound the basketball makes when it hits the wood floor is very familiar. So is the sound the rotating chain makes on the hand bicycle. I can tell you almost to the second how long it will take to walk a mile on the treadmill and what my heart rate will be after ten minutes on the rowing machine. I'm almost to the point where I could tell you what song will play next on the sound system. All these inconsequential memories are stored away somewhere in my brain's filing system. All it takes to retrieve them is doing the same activity again.

I can't tell you what I have in the storage warehouse because many years ago I put something in a box and took it to the warehouse so I could forget about it. For the most part I never thought about the box again. The storage warehouse is filled with things I just didn't want to deal with anymore. I have no idea what is inside many of the boxes until I open them up again. When I look at the contents, the memories come rushing back. Some of the boxes should have remained closed. Like I said, memory is a curious thing.

You'd think I could sink every free throw on the basketball court because I've done this activity for so many years. Evidently thinking something and convincing your arms and legs to do what they're told are two different things. I still have good days and bad days on the basketball court, even though I have a very clear memory of what it feels like to sink a good shot.

Our beautiful Fall weather continues. It's so much easier to clean up poop or do irritating household chores on a really nice day. I wonder how people survive in really terrible climates? A month of rainy days is enough to seriously throw me off my game. Since it was a nice day today, I got a lot done. Dash go a nice early walk. The house got vacuumed. The laundry is done. And my checkbook is balanced.

I even picked out a storage unit and made an appointment to sign the rental agreement at the new storage warehouse. I can start moving in as early as tomorrow. Although several people have advised me to hire a mover, I think I'll just do things myself. Movers would just move all the crap from the old storage space to the new one. The whole point of this exercise is to get rid of things. Since I don't really know what I have, I will need to open and inspect all the boxes. This is not a pleasant task to say the least, but I think I'll feel better when it's over.

I think that Dash is just as influenced by the weather as I am. He seemed to have a good day as well today. Even though he is very weak and stumbles around a lot, he still seems happy. I think he knows that Janet and I are here to take care of him. I often wonder who's going to be around when I become incontinent and start stumbling around the house?

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3160 - Janet's Birthday

It's hard to believe that we're both 70 now. Where has the time gone? Birthdays are pretty subdued these days. At this point, we're just glad to be alive. Janet and I went out for dinner at Knife and had a small celebration with cupcakes when we got home. For the most part, it was just a normal Sunday. Janet cleaned the floors. I changed the sheets on the bed. And we both made sure that Dash took all his pills.

When I went to the gym this morning, the place was flooded. The scene was reminiscent of the time when a pipe burst under the slab at our house. A restoration crew was vacuuming up the water and placing large dehumidifiers everywhere. Water can sure do a lot of damage. It looked like water had gotten under the wood floor of the basketball court, because they were already starting to rip up the floor. All this water made me remember that I forgot to turn off the pump on the roof before I left for the gym. Damn. If the pump runs dry, it's real easy to burn out the motor.

By the time I returned home, I'd forgotten about the pump again. It was on for most of the day, or more likely until it burned out. Sadly, I've wrecked several pumps this way. The pump wasn't the only thing I forgot today. When I went to Sprinkles to pick up cupcakes, I forgot the gift certificate I always use. It never occurred to me to check and see if the certificate was actually in the envelope.

Dash got me up in the middle of the night again. His stools were a little firmer, but still pretty soft. A lot of people have suggested that we add pumpkin to his diet. We'll give it a try again, but the last time we fed Dash pumpkin, it actually made his poop softer. We've tried pumpkin bread too in the past, but it was so tasty that I ate most of it myself. I don't think Dash's problem is simply an upset stomach. The most obvious thing is that we have to keep changing his diet too often just to keep him eating at all. In the best of circumstances, a dog should always eat a very consistent diet. These aren't the best of circumstances unfortunately. The vets think that Dash's vestibular disease is probably contributing to his loss of appetite. We might never know for sure, but we'll do whatever it takes to keep him eating.

I seem to be losing my appetite as well. Janet thinks that I'm not eating enough, but I think I just ate too much in the past. To me, it's natural that you would eat less if you weren't getting as much activity. I walked at least six miles a day for years and years when Dot and Dash were young. Not anymore. Luckily, there were no problems with my appetite this evening. Knife has a well deserved reputation as one of the best steakhouses in Dallas and Janet and I both really enjoyed our dinner.

Now that all the birthdays are in the rear view mirror, it seems like we're racing toward Christmas. Time moves far too quickly now. Even though I don't have that much to do, I can never seem to get caught up. Maybe catching up doesn't even matter. I think the point now for Dash, Janet and I is just to keep moving.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3104

Now I'm worried that there is blood in Dash's stool. When other dogs of ours have had these unusually dark stools, it was seldom a good sign. Maybe the Plavix has caused some internal bleeding. Maybe Dash's cancer has returned. I'll take a sample to the lab for occult blood testing tomorrow and hope for the best. If this is caused by something Dash is eating, it would be good news. We can change what Dash is eating. I'm not sure we can stop the Plavix though.

I didn't do a lot of thinking today. I never do on Sundays. We took a long sunrise walk before it became to hot outside. We all ate breakfast and then I went to the gym. I like my new schedule. I seem to have more energy when I go to the gym early. I tried a new method of shooting free throws that a friend recommended, but it didn't make much of a difference. I tried to move a little faster on the treadmill and arm bicycle as well. There isn't much point in doing these exercises if I don't elevate my heart rate a bit more.

If I counted Sunday chores as part of my workout, I'm actually getting a lot of exercise. I mowed the grass today and vacuumed the house. While I was vacuuming, I took some of the pictures that are going to the auction house off the wall and dusted behind the frames. Most of these pictures haven't been off the wall in decades, so there was an immense amount of dust on the back. The dust didn't hurt anything, but I was embarrassed for anyone else to see it. Now, when everything is packed up to go to New York, the pictures will be clean on both sides.

I think I might just wait until Fall to get the sliding glass door fixed. We don't use the atrium much anyway. I had to have this door fixed once before and the repair people had to remove it for a day to fix the track. I don't think it's a good idea to remove this large door in the Summer. A day without the door would quickly make the inside of the house the same temperature as the outside. I don't think Dash could handle this. I wouldn't enjoy it very much either. I often postpone things for no reason at all, but I think this is a pretty good reason to do nothing.

I can't figure out why my phone is getting a stronger signal now. Usually reception is so bad that I often have to take the phone outside when I get a call. All the sudden I've gone from one bar to four bars. The logical thing would be that AT&T has improved our service, but Janet's phone hasn't changed at all. She still gets poor reception inside the house. This is as much of a mystery as when my Apple Watch shuts itself off while I sleep. I think technology has developed a life of its own. I have no idea what my devices are doing these days.

There is something really important that I need to do tomorrow, but I can't remember what it is. I think all Monday's begin this way.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3097 - Father's Day

Since my birthday is always close to Father's Day, my Mom used to tell Dad that I was his Father's Day gift. I think this annoyed my Dad. I was often a thorn in his side. I abandoned a childhood love of physics and astronomy to go to architecture school. Just when my Dad was getting used to the idea of his son as an architect, I abandoned architecture for a career in advertising. Dad had little use for advertising. He was a devout Lutheran and he never really understood when I abandoned the church. We were not always close, but I always admired my Dad. He was an honest man, a Navy veteran, and a proud member of the greatest generation.

Dad was a scientist who enjoyed watching The Three Stooges on TV after work. He was an avid reader and often gave me books he thought I should read. We never shared the same taste in books. To this day I don't know why he enjoyed Don Marquis so much. He probably wouldn't understand why I liked John Kennedy Toole. I've tried to read The Old Soak and A Variety of People and always lost interest after a few chapters. I never thought Don Marquis was funny. I usually lost interest in watching college basketball with Dad as well. Dad loved basketball. The one time when he seemed a little interested in my advertising career was when I told him I was producing a series of commercials with famed basketball announcer Dick Vitale.

I'm not a Dad myself, but I did a few dad-like things today. I reluctantly hooked up the pressure washer and did my best to clean all the spider webs off the living room windows. Spider webs are almost impossible to remove. The pressure washer will remove paint from the window trim before it will dislodge the pesky spider webs. The webs are full of spiders too. I have to remember to wear a hat when I do this chore, or I will end up with a mess of spiders in my hair. The windows look better now, but this is such a messy job. Water always seeps around the edges of the large single pane glass and I have to mop up water spills on the inside of the house. I wish there was a special paint that repelled spiders. It would be worth repainting the house just to get rid of these nasty insects.

I got a lot of exercise today. We started the day with a long sunrise walk. Dash really enjoys these early morning walks. I went to the gym right after breakfast and did pretty pretty well throwing free throws on the basketball court. Dad would have been surprised that I enjoy shooting baskets. Hey, it's a pleasant way to develop hand eye coordination. I still don't follow the sport. I couldn't fill out a NCAA tournament bracket to save my life.

I don't know how long the windows will stay clean, but I'm not looking forward to cleaning the rest of the house with the pressure washer. I usually do this once a year. Cleaning the exterior of the house and tending to the yard are largely symbolic gestures. Mother nature won this battle many years ago.

The landscaper still hasn't showed up with the replacement grass. I should introduce him to the roofer. These two guys are peas in a pod.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3090

When I woke up this morning, I distinctly remember taking Dash outside in the middle of the night. Something was odd though. Were there really three cats, two rabbits and a raccoon in the yard? I remember seeing these critters when I waved my flashlight around. That's when I knew this was a dream. I never take a flashlight outside with Dash at night. It's weird that I would have such a realistic dream about something I do anyway. My dreams used to be much more exciting than this. When I was young I used to dream that I could fly. Now I dream about taking my dog out to poop.

That wasn't the only thing strange that happened last night. At some point I woke up to hear my watch beeping. I looked at the screen and there was a countdown saying that in ten seconds the watch was automatically going to dial an emergency number. I managed to abort the countdown in less than ten seconds and the next day went online to learn more about this strange function. Apparently, the Apple Watch has an emergency mode that will automatically dial 911 and leave a message with your GPS location if you press and hold one of the side buttons. I must have inadvertently pressed this button in my sleep. I certainly don't want to end up calling 911 in my sleep, so the first thing I did this morning was learn how to disable this function.

Although it was a strange night, it was a pretty normal day. We had a nice walk this morning before the temperature started to rise. Dash did well today. He loves cool morning with a nice breeze. Since we got an early start today, I managed to get to the gym early as well. I should do this more often. I seem to have more energy early in the morning. I've started going on the basketball court as soon as I arrive. This way I have a chance to shoot free throws for a while before those guys arrive for their regular Sunday pick-up game.

There was plenty of time to do Sunday chores when I returned home, but I didn't accomplish much. I sucked out the water that had seeped under the tiles in the shower with the wet/dry vacuum and then I made some repairs on another pair of Dash's protective boots. I've found that I can double the life of these boots by gluing on strips of tire repair rubber when the boot material starts to wear thin. I've repaired three pairs of boots so far and I'm getting better at it. Shoe Goo holds the patches on better than rubber cement, but it is very messy to work with. Shoe Goo is not my friend.

On my way to the gym I listened to an episode of Freakonomics where scientists are starting to reevaluate what separates humans from animals. Apparently very little distinguishes us from other animals. Over 98% of our DNA is identical to monkeys. Monkeys have been taught to use money and tend to follow some of the same basic economic rules that we do. According to this show, even fish share some of the qualities that we've long thought were reserved exclusively for humans. I've always felt this way. This doesn't mean that animals are perfect. Nature can be very cruel. Dolphins are known to murder their own kind. Many animals are carnivores. Nevertheless, animals are sentient creatures and we should start treating them that way. Many species have developed complex language and communicate with each other. They think and have feelings. This is all very clear. So, why do I still like bacon?

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2957

Time flies. Three years ago I was out at Vandenberg Air Force Base as a guest of NASA to watch the SMAP launch. I didn't realize that this would be my last trip for a long, long time. Six years ago, Entrecard disappeared. Again, I didn't realize that this was the end of something. Blogging was never the same again. Things keep changing, but as always, I never realize the implications until much later. If there are changes or surprises in store for me in 2018, I hope they are good ones.

The gym seems to have lost a few members. Maybe some people quit when the price went up. Since I don't know any of these people, there is no way to know for sure. I'm doing my workouts earlier now. It leaves more time later in the day to do other things I don't like to do. If Saturday is a day for errands, Sunday has become a day for exercise. When I returned home today, I vacuumed. Vacuuming is more work than it seems because I always have to move so much clutter, just so I can clean the carpets. It would be tempting to just vacuum around all the junk on the floor, but it would defeat the whole purpose of cleaning. Dust hides under clutter.

It was beautiful outside today, but the nice weather made it difficult to walk Dash. On pretty, warm days the park is filled with joggers, cyclists, and people walking their dogs. It is impossible for Dash to walk in a straight line. He is always zig-zagging around, following his nose. If we are on a road or trail, I have to keep an eye out for bicycles. The cyclists are silent and never slow down for dogs. I have to keep an eye out for loose dogs too. Way too many people think it is perfectly OK to let their dog off leash in the park. There are signs all over the place saying that all dogs must be on a leash, but apparently nobody reads signs. I have seen these loose dogs get into fights with other dogs, but the owners never think it is their fault. I prefer days like yesterday when it is cold and misty with nobody in sight.

I was thinking of starting to watch Black Mirror on Netflix today, but there wasn't enough time. My simple Sunday routine eats up the entire day. There's an early dog walk, followed by breakfast and a trip to the gym. Sometime I go to the grocery store on the way home from the gym, but I didn't today. Afternoons always include some chore that I can't put off any longer. Today it was vacuuming. Often it is getting the water off the roof. To get Dash to eat properly, I have to split his dinner into two parts, with a walk in the middle. This ritual take longer than you might think. With the time I had left, I repaired my walking shoes while Janet was fixing dinner and that was about it.

The Grammy Awards are on TV now in another part of the house. I don't know who any of these people are. Where are the new bands like Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, and King Crimson? For that matter, where are the singers like Percy Sledge, Marvin Gaye, and Janis Joplin? I don't know if I'm old school or just old, but I still prefer "Dark Side of the Moon," to "XXX,"

January is almost over. Dash has another appointment for an echocardiogram this coming Thursday. Then there's Groundhog Day. It always feels like Groundhog Day to me.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2950

It only rained for about twenty minutes today, but it would happen to be the same twenty minutes when I decided to give Dash his afternoon walk. Dash seems to have lost his ability to detect approaching storms. So have I, it appears. We get caught in the rain a lot. Today's rain was a real soaker. I was worried that I may have ruined my camera and phone. Luckily there was no thunder and lightning. Everything still worked when we got home, but Dash and I were very wet.

Ironically, I'd gone to the gym this morning specifically to avoid the rain. In retrospect, it would have been smarter to have walked Dash earlier in the day and let the car get wet during the afternoon. As always, we may have made it home before the storm this afternoon if Dash wasn't so slow. He still insisted in smelling every bush along the trail even though we were both getting drenched.

I had a good workout today. It still seems odd that my body reacts the same way every Sunday. The first twenty minutes, my aches and pains are in control and I just want to go home. The next twenty minutes I'm kind of in a zone where I'm not really aware of time. My mind wanders and I start to notice what the other gym members are doing. During the last twenty minutes, I often feel surprisingly good and absentmindedly wonder whether I should stay and exercise a little longer. I never do.

I was planning on vacuuming the house this afternoon, but it took so long to dry Dash off after we got caught in the storm that I quickly lost interest. I had to do something, so I recharged a bunch of battery powered devices and took a nap with Dash instead. From time to time I would turn the television on and then turn it off again. I can't stand to watch the news channels anymore. Eventually, The Great British Baking Show caught my interest. Watching bread bake is much more interesting than politics.

Yesterday, we experimented and fed Dash later than usual. We also made him wait for his bedtime snack until ten-thirty PM. There was some barking and bad behavior due to this delay, but the reward was that Dash didn't need to go outside and poop in the middle of the night. We all were able to sleep without interruptions until morning. It was so pleasant to get a decent amount of sleep that we're going to trey the same strategy tonight. We have been so worried that Dash was refusing to eat that he has become very spoiled. Once he realized that he was calling the shots, he began wanting to eat earlier and earlier. Things have gotten out of hand. We've got to work on reestablishing a more reasonably feeding schedule without getting Dash all worked up and putting his heart at risk. Life is always interesting with a Dalmatian.

I have articles to write but I still have this antiquated notion that Sunday should be a day of rest. I have no idea why going to the gym qualifies as rest and writing doesn't. I guess I only feel like I'm working when I'm following someone else's orders. When I'm calling the shots, it's never work. Maybe Dash feels the same way. He certainly likes to call the shots about his meals and feeding schedule. Dash is a very stubborn dog. If he and I can compromise on an appropriate dinner time, it should be a no brainer for congress to get the government running again.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2936

I had the best of intentions to check out a couple of new gyms, but it turned out to be so much easier to just re-join the one I've been going to all along. This is my response to just about everything these days. If it's familiar, I can live with it. The gym seemed pretty empty this morning. Maybe some folks did abandon the place because of the price increase. On the other hand, the gym is always pretty empty on Sunday morning. I'm glad this little decision is out of the way. If I did make New Year's resolutions, my first one for 2018 would be to avoid as many decisions as possible.

Janet mopped the brick floors today so that meant it was time for me to vacuum the carpets. Dash must shed more than Dot because the dog hair in the house certainly hasn't been cut in half after she passed away. I'm continually amazed at how dirty the carpets get. We have good filters on the furnace and rarely open the windows. Where does all this dust come from? Dot used to be afraid of the vacuum cleaner, but Dash could care less. He won't even move and I often need to vacuum around him.

Today's rain didn't arrive on schedule and I began to think I could get everything done without getting  wet. As usual, I was wrong. I made it to the gym and back on dry roads, but I ran out of luck when I was giving Dash his afternoon walk. He is so slow these days that I always miscalculate. If he would just keep moving, we would have made it home with time to spare, but Dash prefers to stop and smell things. He doesn't even seem to mind getting wet. At least our boy still enjoys walking. That's all that counts.

I still can't figure out why my WiFi crashes when I download movies. I guess I never noticed this before because I don't download movies very often. I looked on Google and other Apple users were having the same problem. As usual, the online solutions seemed complicated and probably wouldn't work anyway. It's not like any of this actually matters. It was just something to think about on a rainy day.

Dash doesn't like me to sit at the computer anymore. He barks at me and if I don't get up, will start knocking things over that are stacked around my desk with his paw. At first I was puzzled by this behavior. Typically, he doesn't need to go outside and sometimes isn't even hungry. Then I discovered that he wants me to sit on the bed with him. Today, I was happy to oblige. I was tired and it was a grey, rainy day anyway.

It didn't seem like a productive day, but the house is a little cleaner, I'm a gym member again, and Dash still had somebody to nap with. Maybe some people are watching the Golden Globe Awards this evening, but I think I'll pass. I don't even know who these younger actors are anymore.

Vegas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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