Day 3066

Dash has the weirdest eating habits imaginable. I feel like I'm feeding him little mini-meals every ten minutes. He never eats the same thing twice, but by the end of the day he has eaten just as much as he used to when he was younger. Janet thinks Dash always wanted to eat this way, but ate quickly because he was always afraid that Dot would grab his dinner. Dot would have too. Now Dash doesn't have any competition for food. He eats a little, then goes back to the bedroom and sleeps a little, then comes back and eats a little more. This is how we spend our day. It's all eating and sleeping around here.

Dash has been surprisingly good about walking while Janet is away. We walk right after we wake up in the morning, while it's still cool outside. It's a little hard to get his protective boots on, but we manage. Somebody needs to make a better boot sock for dogs. The boots aren't waterproof and when the grass is wet the moisture causes the socks to come loose and bunch up in the bottom of the boot. Today the entire boot came off before we had gone 500 yards. I was able to get the boot back on again, but I still need to come up with a better solution. Dash is becoming an expert at losing his shoes.

I was going to call the roofers again today, but I was glad I didn't. I just noticed that there are thunderstorms in the forecast for next Monday. There's no sense being a pest if it's just going to rain anyway. I wonder what it's going to take to get an entire week without rain? That's what I really need. Of course, all the roofer's other customers probably want exactly the same thing. Fickle weather is one of the main reason that it's hard to pin a roofer down.

I think I'm going to have to call an electrician. The security lamp in the back yard isn't coming on automatically at sunset anymore. The sensor is probably just covered with spiderwebs again, but I don't want to climb up on the pole and clean them off. The lamp is mounted dangerously close to where the electricity comes into the house. I'm clumsy and I definitely don't want to electrocute myself clearing away spiderwebs. Too bad I've gotten hooked on having this lamp working normally. Without it, I can never see where Dash is pooping at night.

I'm hooked on too many things I never thought I needed. It's looks like I'm going to have to get a new fitness tracker because my attempts to repair the silicon band on my Jawbone tracker have been abysmal. I wish I could get my money back on the special silicon glue I ordered. It doesn't work at all. I've been reading reviews about other trackers and nobody seems to be happy with theirs. Either the heart rate monitor is too slow, or the gadget doesn't count the correct number of steps. Some people say their tracker still counts steps while they are sleeping. Others, like me, use two different trackers and can never figure out why they don't agree. I really like my UP3 tracker. Too bad the build quality is terrible and they only last about six months.

I remembered to take the trash out to the curb this evening. I've got lots of reminders so I'll remember to give Dash his pills in the morning. I'm not sure I'll go out to breakfast though. Breakfast isn't as appealing as it used to be. Maybe I should start eating little mini-meals too.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3045

Dealing with customer service is becoming increasingly difficult. It is a challenge to bypass the automated response systems and the offshore help desks to reach a knowledgable person who can actually help you. If you persist, occasionally you succeed. I was determined to get the illusive Fedex Ground package delivered today. The first person I talked to was out of the country. I asked this person to transfer me to someone who could actually make something happen and ended up talking to someone in Pennsylvania. This person transferred me to a supervisor in Texas and after about 45 minutes I finally ended up talking to the manager of the local shipping terminal about ten miles from my house.

When I finally reached someone locally who had the ability to call the delivery driver on his cell phone, I was able to provide detailed directions to my house and the package eventually got delivered. It shouldn't be this hard to get a company who's entire business is dedicated to delivering packages to actually deliver something. While I was going through customer service hell, I learned something I didn't really want to hear. Fedex Ground doesn't use their own uniformed drivers anymore. They farm out their deliveries to independent contractors. The whole setup sounded a lot like Uber for packages. Jeez. No wonder service has deteriorated. Why are so many companies determined to cut costs to the bone, no matter what happens to quality or service? The local terminal manager I talked with admitted that this new system didn't always work very well, but that there was nothing she could do about it. Corporate had decided that subcontracting their business to a third party was more profitable.

When I got one problem solved, I discovered that I had another. Several days ago, I bought a replacement for my broken activity tracker from a third-part reseller. Unfortunately, when I opened the box and plugged the thing into a charger, it wouldn't hold a charge. The battery was completely dead. In retrospect this makes sense. Jawbone has been on the verge of bankruptcy for several years now. They stopped manufacturing fitness trackers in 2016 and any remaining products have been sitting on the shelves for a long, long time. A quick Google search revealed that I had bought a brick. It was impossible to fix or replace the dead battery and equally impossible to get a replacement from a company that doesn't exist anymore. I'm going to try to return this piece of junk to the reseller, but I doubt that the want to see it again. No wonder I got such a good price. They've probably got a boatload of these things with completely dead batteries.

There was a bit of good news today. Dash slept peacefully last night and didn't have any coughing or breathing problems. I heard from Dash's doctor at the cancer center and he said that as long as the condition doesn't get worse, we don't need to do anything immediately. He wants to make sure that Dash is completely free of blood clots before we attempt to deal with the enlarged heart. I wonder if Dash knows how fragile he is? Despite his many problems, he still seems like a happy camper.

I saw a hawk catch and eat a mouse today. The mouse didn't have a chance. A little further down the road I noticed that the Purple Martins have driven the Sparrows out of the Martin Houses in the park. It was an ongoing battle for a while, but apparently the Purple Martins won. The animal world can be ruthless, but our own world is far worse. Two police officers were shot yesterday at a Home Depot where I frequently shop. They didn't have any more of a chance than that mouse.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2994

OK. I voted. I've never really liked primary elections because the candidates viciously trash each other and then act surprised when all their negative ads come back to bite them in the general election. Aren't you guys supposed to be on the same team? Both parties are guilty of wanting to win at any cost. I received so much negative advertising during this primary season that I basically think all the candidates are worthless. I'm convinced that we would be better served if the vast majority of politicians didn't start out as lawyers. Lawyers just want to win. It's a game to them. I'd rather be represented by somebody who owned a pizza restaurant or walked dogs for a living than a lawyer.

Hey, I still voted though, even though Janet probably shamed me into going to our neighborhood polling place. I've had a spotty voting history over the years. I didn't vote regularly when I was younger. I just didn't think it mattered which party won. There are times when I would have preferred a monarchy. Our adversarial system seems to promote rancor and discord. I'm not surprised we're a divided country. We talk a good game about working together, but nobody really makes the effort. It's much more satisfying to just trash the other side.

I spoke too soon about my cold being over. I woke up in a cold sweat again last night. I thought I must have a fever, but my temperature was only 96 degrees. Weird. The sheets were damp, so I went back to sleep on some dry towels and changed the bed in the morning. Janet and Dash never woke up, which is probably a good thing. I'm definitely tired of feeling lousy. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do to shorten the duration of a cold. You've got to just let it run its course. Most cold remedies only provide very temporary relief.

Dash is still being moody. He barks at me while I'm eating breakfast. When I take him outside, he refuses to walk. It took me forever to clean all the bedding this morning and as soon as I finished making the bed again, Dash hopped up and used the bedspread as a dishrag to wipe his dirty snout. I think Dash misses having another dog around. He was much better behaved when Dot was in the house.

The repair I made on my fitness tracker didn't even last one day. Apparently superglue doesn't stick very well to silicon. I really like the Jawbone UP trackers, but they aren't made very well. My desk is littered with broken ones. I'm not doing a good job of fixing anything these days. I'm starting to see frost on the inside of the freezer again and there is still an annoying dripping sound inside the toilet tank. I'm treading water at best. Basically, all the broken things are winning.

In case you were wondering, I never got around to working on my taxes today. I did take a nice picture of a Cedar Waxwing though. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2863

I think Jawbone has pulled the plug on my fitness tracker. It hasn't been saving steps or heart rate data for the past several days. I guess I should have expected this. The company is going bankrupt. They stopped manufacturing fitness trackers over a year ago and don't even answer their phone anymore. Customer service is non-existant. I guess it was only a matter of time before they decided to shut down the servers that sync your data.

It's a shame I'll have to quit using my latest UP band. It hasn't even broken yet. The product quality for these things has always been terrible, but I really like the little tracker. I've had numerous Jawbone trackers, mostly because they inevitably quit working after a year or so. Jawbone used to be really good about replacing defective trackers, but I think they became overwhelmed when their entire customer base started demanding replacement bands. The UP3 is still one of the smallest, least obtrusive activity trackers you can buy. It's easy for me to wear one on my right hand and still wear a watch on my left. I'm going to miss this worthless product.

I used to jokingly tell friends that I should become a product tester for manufacturers. If I really like something it is almost guaranteed to fail. It I hate it, there's a good chance it will become a runaway success. I'm the guy who used to own two Citroën automobiles. Back in the tape era, I used to favor Betamax. Every store I've bought furniture from has gone out of business. While other professional photographers use Nikon and Canon, I have stubbornly stuck with Olympus. It's uncanny how consistently I become fond of unpopular products.

Sadly, my taste for unpopular things even extends to restaurant menus. I stopped to pick up some Thai food for dinner on my way home from the post office this afternoon and discovered that my favorite go-to meal had been removed from the menu. This happens surprisingly often. One of the reasons I don't enjoy my Friday morning breakfast outings as much anymore is that I've never been able to find anything as good as the Migas the little neighborhood restaurant that went out of business made.

We put on Dash's knee brace and protective boots before Janet left for work again. He doesn't seem to want to walk early in the morning anymore, but if I let him wander around the house for a while while I'm eating breakfast, he eventually gets in the mood. When I see him head toward the back door, I'm ready. My coat and Dash's leash are on a chair near the door. I already have my dog walking shoes on, so it only takes a few seconds to hook him up and go. Usually Dash feels like walking while I'm in the middle of breakfast, but that's OK. I just finish my meal when we get back.

I'm not sure if Dash's heart condition is improving, but he certainly is happier now. He gets a can of Castor and Pollux stew in the morning and a can of Hills ID in the evening. We usually walk about 10 AM and he gets a snack early in the afternoon. He still sleeps a lot and doesn't play much anymore, but that's OK too. He's getting old.

There was no work today, so I wrote a letter to my sister. If more people started writing letters and quit depending on their phone, many of the problems we have with hacking and identity fraud would simply go away. A connected world creates a lot of problems. I'm sure my little fitness tracker would still be working fine if it was self contained and didn't have to store all it's information in the cloud. I don't like to depend on a server in California or India. I wish the strawberries I like were raised locally. I wish my clothing was made in a local factory. I'm not a fan of globalism at all. With my track record, this means that globalism is exactly what we'll get.

Pearl is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2659

Lord knows what I do in my sleep. I woke up this morning without my fitness tracker on my wrist. I couldn't find it anywhere. Did it fall off when I got up to go to the bathroom? Did it fall off when I cleaned up Dot's poop at 2 AM? I didn't want to lose the tracker for three months like my other UP band, so I looked everywhere. Eventually, I found it under the sheets at the foot of the bed. How on earth did it get there?

While I was searching for the illusive UP band, Dot was slowly waking up. Every morning I have to make a quick decision. When Dot lifts her head and acknowledges that she is awake I have to decide whether to lift her up and let her pee in place on her bed, or quickly walk her down the hall and out the back door. If she pees in place, there is a small well contained mess. If we can make it outside, there is no mess at all. If I guess wrong, there is a trail of pee all the way to the back door and a lot of rugs to wash. I guessed wrong this morning. I really thought she could make it, but when she didn't pee immediately when we got outside I knew there was a trail of pee behind me

It was unusually cold this morning. It felt strange to wear a winter parka in April, but that's Texas weather for you. This was another one of those days where we had the furnace running in the morning and the air conditioner in the afternoon. At least the humidity was low. It will help the rugs dry on the line in the back yard. I've stopped drying the rugs in the dryer, because the rubber backing would always flake off and make a big mess. I've got a fairly efficient system for keeping things clean now, but it sure would be nice if I knew what Dot was going to do in the morning.

I decided to upgrade my IOS devices to the latest system and as usual, Apple hit me with a surprise. They have a two step authentication process now that seems unusually complicated, even for Apple. When you log on with one device, Apple sends an authentication code to a second device. You have to copy this code back to the first device before you can continue. I guess this is an effective way to keep an unauthorized person from using your phone, but it is very inconvenient. I'm not sure what you would do if you only owned one Apple product. I'm going to have to figure out how to disable this feature, because I definitely don't want to keep an iPad nearby every time I use my phone.

I actually had work to do this morning. It was only a routine website update, but it kept me busy for a while. I need to think seriously about uploading a massive amount of photos to Shutterstock. I make a little money every month from stock photo websites, but I don't have enough photos on file to generate any real income. When my few remaining clients eventually disappear, passive income websites like Shutterstock and iStockphoto might be all I have left. In theory, you could make a living selling stock photos, but you'd have to have thousands available. So far, I only have ten.

Today wasn't half bad. Dot was calm and stress free for most of the day. Dash was eager to walk for a change. I had some work to do and the weather was crisp and cool. I didn't even leave the house today, but that was OK. On days like these, I don't feel a need to escape.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2595

I found my missing fitness tracker today. This thing disappeared almost two months ago, so I'd totally given up hope of ever seeing it again. It was always a mystery where the tracker was, since just before the battery died, I noticed that it was still paired with my phone. Logically, the wristband had to be nearby, but I never could find it.

Today, I was cleaning the car after getting the interior dirty bringing stuff back from the storage warehouse and while I was brushing a crevice under the rear seat, I dislodged the illusive bracelet and swept it, along with a lot of dirt, to the driveway. Weird. The car was the first place I looked, but it never occurred to me to look under this seat. The tracker must have fallen off my wrist while I was loading photo equipment and found its way under the seat while I was driving. I'm glad the mystery is finally solved. Now, I can finally quit wondering whether one of the dogs ate it, or if I inadvertently vacuumed it up while cleaning rugs.

I never would have found the fitness tracker if I hadn't decided to bring home the garment rack from the storage warehouse and bring some order to my growing collection of coats. Don't ask me how the garment rack got muddy. I don't recall that it had ever been outside. At any rate, I disassembled the thing at the warehouse so it would fit in the car, and then cleaned and reassembled it when I got home. I had to take a bookshelf apart too, so the bulky rack would fit where I needed it to go. I always forget how heavy books are until I need to move them. These books and magazines hadn't been moved in decades. There were old Communication Arts magazines from the 1970's. There were German language textbooks from the 1990's when I was doing a lot of work in Germany. I threw away about thirty pounds of old B&H catalogs from the days before the Internet when they used to mail out massive two inch thick books every six months or so. If I had more time, this cleanup job might have been a little nostalgic, but I was trying to get everything finished while the dogs were still sleeping.

Eventually, I rearranged all the books and gathered up the loose coats around the house so I could place them neatly on the garment rack. The job was a success, but it took longer than I'd thought. By the time I fed the dogs their dinner and got them ready for their evening walks, it was starting to look like rain. Dot's walk went fine, but when it was Dash's turn, the sky was pretty dark. When we were about a mile away from the house, I started to see lightning. I urged Dash to hurry up and amazingly, he listened. We arrived home again two minutes before a real downpour started. I guess today was a lucky day. We didn't get struck by lightning and I found a fitness tracker that I never thought I'd see again. The office is still a mess, but the coats look much better on the garment rack.

I'm pleased that the new wonder scale tells me I'm in pretty good shape. My body mass index, bone mass, body fat percentage, standing heart rate, and pulse wave velocity are all excellent for someone my age. I'd never even heard of pulse wave velocity before. You take the time it takes for blood to travel from your heart to the blood vessels in your feet and then compare this value with your height to determine your pulse wave velocity. Lower numbers are good because they indicate that your veins and arteries are elastic. Higher numbers indicate hardening of the arteries which could put you at risk of a heart attack. I guess I already knew that my arteries were somewhat elastic, but I didn't know what it all meant. Cool machines that actually teach you something are the best. I like my scale.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2549

Sometimes I wonder why you guys continue reading. Very little happens these days. I'm OK with that because I'm afraid the next big news will be bad news. I still have the occasional writing and website assignments, but mostly life revolves around keeping Dot comfortable. She continues to slowly deteriorate and there is very little I can do at this point to change the outcome of this story. Although Dot is weak, she still seems happy. Often, I think she is happier than I am. I could learn a lot from her determination and resilience. I don't have many strong desires anymore, but I'm determined to help Dot continue her journey as long as she's willing. Who knows. Maybe she'll make it to her 17th birthday.

Today was mostly spent avoiding the rain and trying to stay warm. In the Summer I always think it would be nice to move to Wyoming, but when cold weather arrives I have second thoughts about northern Winters. Maybe I've already found the best place to live. Texas has a low cost of living compared to many states. It only snows a few times a year. There are bugs and snakes here, but it's not nearly as bad as Florida. I really think the perfect place to live only exists in my imagination.

One of my Dalmatian Rescue friends gave me her old UP band when I lost mine last weekend. She said it was broken, but thought I might be able to fix it. It didn't want to sync with my phone at all and there were some weird error lights flashing. I'd seen these error lights before on an earlier UP band I'd owned and thought I'd try a hard reset. The reset made the error lights go away but it still wouldn't sync with my phone. Since this looked like an early model band, I thought I'd try the very old Jawbone app on my first generation iPad. This worked like a charm. The fitness band synced with the old app and started counting steps again. It was actually kind of enjoyable to work my way through this process. I like fixing things.

Since it is nearing the end of the year, renewal notices are starting to arrive for the subscription software I've been forced to use. The main two I need to decide whether to renew are Pro Tools and Avid Media Composer. I renewed my license last year, but never used either application all year. Will I use Pro Tools next year? It's hard to decide these things. The software licenses are kind of pricey, but much less expensive than letting them lapse and having to buy the software all over again. I've been keeping current on business software because I refuse to acknowledge that my business is dying. It is basically finished though. Kaput. It's hard to imagine finding new clients at this point. Someday, I'll have to come to grips with this.

I paid some bills today and made a few quick calculations to make sure I still have enough left over to pay my property tax later this month. Christmas is coming and Dot has another big exam at the cancer center next week. Those bills won't come until January though, so I guess I'm OK. It would be nice to have a month with no big bills at all, but that's not going to happen.

Hopefully, the weather will improve a bit tomorrow. It was hard getting either dog to walk today. Rain or shine, tomorrow will probably be very similar to today.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2546

I was surprised that our first photo shoot went as well as it did today. When I got up to load the car, it was cold and raining. I took a shower last night, because I knew there wouldn't be time this morning. By the time I got to our location, there was barely time to set up before our first customers arrived. Nevertheless, everything went well. For the most part the pets we photographed were well behaved and their owners were friendly. We photographed almost as many cats today as dogs today. When we started doing Christmas pictures for Dalmatian Rescue, it was almost unheard of to bring a cat to one of these events. Now, cats wearing costumes are everywhere. We even had a rat today. The owner said it was a gerbil, but it sure looked like a rat to me. Several families with small children used the occasion to take a family portrait and most agreed that crashing a pet picture event was a lot easier than waiting in line so their kids could see a shopping mall Santa.

I lost my fitness tracker today. Who know when the thing fell off my wrist, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was pretty sure that I lost the UP band while I was loading the car this morning, but after carefully retracing my steps, I couldn't find anything. When I got home from the photo shoot, I noticed that the tracker still appeared to be paired to my phone. The app showed that it was still counting steps too and even measuring a heart beat. It was almost as if the thing was still on my wrist, but had become invisible. The whole thing is baffling. I wasted a huge amount of time this evening looking for the wayward fitness band, but I still can't find it. The app shows that the battery has just about run out. Where is this thing? When the battery goes dead, it will disappear on the app and become even harder to find. I did find my reading glasses while I was looking for the missing band, so I guess there is still hope.

Tomorrow's photo shoot location if much further away than today's, so I will need to get up even earlier. I wish I could just leave all the equipment in the car to save time, but I don't have that much faith in my fellow man. I don't ever leave anything unattended in the car anymore. Today was busy, but I think even more people have signed up for Santa photos tomorrow. I need to stay focused and quit worrying about the fitness band. It will either turn up or it won't. At this point there isn't much I can do about it.

All in all, things went pretty well today. One of the flash triggers broke, but the other one worked just fine. Everyone loved the new backdrop we got this year. No dogs have peed on it yet either. So far, so good. Dot and Dash did well today, although I don't think Janet enjoyed staying home all day to keep an eye on them. She enjoys these special pet picture events more than I do. It's too bad we couldn't have just switched roles today.

I think my obsession with the missing fitness band reveals a disturbing character flaw. A weird mystery will capture my attention far easier than the ongoing needs of daily life. Maybe that's why I spend more time trying to figure out when Dot is going to poop next than I do trying to solicit new business. I keep trying to predict things that just can't be predicted. And when is the FedEx guy going to deliver that package anyway? That at least should be completely predictable. In the end, I want everything in life to run like clockwork and it just doesn't work that way. Even my watches don't run like clockwork.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2498

Today felt more like a work day. We got up early because Janet needed to go to the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. I spent most of the day tending to the dogs, but did manage to squeeze in a few weekend errands. I picked up some meds for Dash at the vet and then took my defective pants back to the REI store. Amazingly, they offered to exchange them for a new pair. I wasn't expecting this and was actually planning to drop the pants off at a tailor shop on the way home. I've noticed a pattern in recent years. As product quality has gotten worse, customer service has gotten better. I think a lot of companies have decided that it is less costly to just replace things when they break than to build them right in the first place. I've gotten four free UP fitness trackers from Jawbone. I love these things, but they aren't made very well. I'm lucky if mine lasts six months. Customer service is usually very nice about replacing the broken trackers though, so I'm a happy camper. Maybe REI uses the same strategy. Advertise clothing as tough and reliable, and if it doesn't live up to expectations, just smile and replace it.

The reason that I stayed home today was that it is inevitable that Dot will poop in her bed during the day. If I'm not nearby to quickly clean up the mess, she gets frantic and usually ends up making the situation much worse. When I'm away, I have to leave her penned in a small, well padded enclosure, so she won't hurt herself. This works well if she's asleep, or if I'm around to lets her out frequently. It doesn't work well at all if I'm gone for four or five hours. As expected, Dot did poop in her bed today, so it was good that I was nearby.

After one of these accidents, I knew she was tired and would probably sleep for several hours, so I went to the gym. This is usually how I plan my excursions away from the house. If she's had an accident, Dot typically won't have another one for at least three or four hours. She's sleeps soundly, so if she has an accident in her sleep, I can just quietly slide the soiled disposable pad out from under her without even waking her up. If I keep doing this much longer, I'll soon be able to write a book on dealing with incontinent dogs.

I've discovered that it's hard to write the blog when only one of us is home in the evening. As Dot has become less mobile, she's become increasingly needy. She's not the least bit sleepy in the evenings, and constantly wants somebody nearby. If I ignore her, she starts barking frantically. To prevent this, I'll write a sentence or two and and then go sit with her for a while or walk her around the house. As soon as I get her settled down, Dash will run to the front door, thinking he hears a car in the driveway and the cycle of barking will start all over again.

The roofers said they'd stop by next week. They probably really meant that they'd stop by next month. A representative from the sanitation department is supposed to contact me to help resolve my trash problem as well. We'll see. My guess is that none of this will actually happen.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2322

Dot's injuries have caused me to worry more. There is absolutely no reason to worry any more than I usually do, but I still wake up every morning expecting something terrible to happen. Today, when I was at the gym, I checked on the dogs with the baby monitor and got a weird error message. I get error messages with this camera all the time, but I'd never seen this one before. It seemed to indicate that the camera had been physically moved. The only thing that I could think of was that Dash had another epileptic seizure and knocked the camera off the low table where it was sitting. This was an irrational fear since Dash hasn't had a seizure in years, but I cut my workout short and went home to check on things anyway. Everything was fine. When I re-booted the WiFi network, the camera worked perfectly.

My seasonal allergies are worse than ever this year. My eyes were itching when I woke up and I spent the rest of the day sneezing, blowing my nose, and squirting Visine in my eye. It probably didn't help matters that I mowed the grass this morning, but it had to be done. I wish I had a self-propelled mower, but I'm tired of trying to start gas powered mowers. I like my simple electric lawn mower, but it's getting harder and harder to push it up the hills. Elon Musk needs to design a decent electric lawn mower. Most of them are pretty crude and basic.

My new activity monitor send me a message saying that based on a twelve day analysis, my resting heart rate is considered normal for a person who eats well and is physically fit. That was kind. If the message was honest, it would say that the heart rate is normal for a crazy old man who still mows his own grass and vacuums up dog hair obsessively with the most powerful Dyson available. I do stay active, even though taking naps is one of my favorite activities.

On my way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped by the sporting goods store that is going out of business again. They keep lowering prices further every week and I'm drawn to a bargain like a moth to a flame. I walked away with a big plush dog blanket for Dash. The last thing we need are more dog blankets, but this looked pretty and was marked down from $70 to $14. I couldn't resist. Dash liked the blanket, but he always likes new things.

Dot hasn't pooped all day. Ordinarily, you'd think this was a good thing, but it's making me nervous. She should have done her business after lunch, during her evening walk, or at least after dinner. She just wasn't in the mood. Now, I'm sure she's going to explode when I'm not looking and make a big mess all over the house. There's nothing you can do. Incontinence and old age are just a fact of life.

The Foxglove and Milkweed plants are starting to flower behind our house. Wildflowers always bloom in a distinct sequence. I see pink and yellow Primrose flowers first. Then there are a lots of Horse Nettle, Grape Hyacinth, and Crows Poison blooms. The Firewheel and Mexican Hat flowers always seems to arrive last. The meadows and native prairie around our house look so lush now that it's hard to believe that everything will be brown and dry by early July.

The refrigerator is stocked with strawberries and blueberries and there's a big bowl of fresh bananas on the kitchen counter. I'm ready for another week to begin.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2316

Today wasn't as bad as I expected. It rained from time to time, but mostly it was just overcast. The absence of thunder and lightning made life much easier. The dogs got their normal walks. The power stayed on. And I didn't have to worry about Dot when I had to leave the house for a photo assignment. I'm sure there's water on the roof, but I didn't bother to remove it. With several more days of inclement weather in the forecast, it would be pointless to clean things up now.

It took longer to drive to the client's offices than it took to take today's photos. Some companies make a big deal out of employee pictures. I've spent all day doing these things before. This place just wanted me to be as quick as possible.  I can be pretty fast if that's what you want. I was finished in less than fifteen minutes. When I returned home, the dogs were ready for lunch and then I had the rest of the day to add the new pictures to the website.

My new activity tracker can measure REM sleep, along with light and deep sleep. I think REM sleep is where you do most of your dreaming. Some days I have lots of REM sleep and other days I have none at all. I had always though I had dreams every night, but maybe not. I evidently didn't do any dreaming last night. You couldn't prove it by me, since I never remember my dreams anyway. So far, I see no discernible patterns to my sleep. The only thing that's clear is that I don't get nearly enough of it. I go to bed too late. Janet gets up too early. And the slightest noise during the night wakes me up. No wonder I'm always tired.

I forgot to put all the ingredients in my morning smoothie and it actually tasted better. Apparently, less is more. This surprising turn of events got me wondering where I got the original recipe from. Did I invent this concoction, or did I get the recipe out of a book? I really don't remember. I ought to experiment more. There are probably other happy accidents out there just waiting to be discovered.

Now that Dot's vet has agree to switch her therapy appointment back to the morning, I'm wondering if this was such a good idea. I tried to get her up this morning at about the time we would have to leave for a morning appointment and she wouldn't budge. It looks like in the morning I'll get a sleepy, grumpy dog and in the afternoon I'll get a dog that poops in the car. I'm beginning to think that the appointment time makes no difference at all. Dot is a high maintenance dog and there's always going to be some sort of a problem.

I've got some websites to update tomorrow morning, but it looks like it's going to be a slow day. I hate that I'm going to have to wait until 2017 for the next new Dr. Who episode. I've seen the old episodes too many times to enjoy seeing them again on a slow, rainy day, but a new episode now and then would have been nice.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2310

Yay. I fixed yesterday's website problem using a single line of code. I was pretty pleased with myself, even though I had a little help from an Apache Server user group. By modifying some code I saw on the forum, I was able to solve a problem that had my web hosting tech support folks stumped. The problem was so minor that most people would never have noticed, but it still felt gratifying to be able to put two and two together and come up with a solution. Don't count me out yet folks.

I replaced my defective activity tracker with a more advanced model that I found for half price at a sporting goods store that was going out of business. I had gone to the store to look for a cheap fleece jacket, but came away with the activity tracker instead. The best thing about this new model is that you don't have to manually put it into sleep mode every night. The thing just knows when you are sleeping automatically. I doubt that the new tracker will last any longer than any of the others that have fallen apart on my wrist, but I got it at half price. It's hard to resist half price.

I took my jacket back to the tailor today and was pleased to discover that she could fix the lining for a very reasonable price. I'm always impressed with people who can fix things. This tailor does beautiful work and has extended the life of many of my favorite things. The jacket is old and worn, but I still like it. Old leather coats have a lot of character. I'd keep fixing everything if I could, but people who take pride in fixing things are getting harder to find. Like it or not, we live in a throw away society.

Fixing a difficult website problem myself and getting a new lining for an old jacket made me feel good. I even anticipated that Dot needed to poop last night and we managed to get her up and outside at 3 AM just in the nick of time. There were no accidents in the house today. People sometimes think I'm a gloomy person, but it really doesn't take that much to cheer me up. A few things going right will usually do the trick.

I need to ask Dot's vet if I could change her physical therapy appointment back to mornings instead of afternoons. Dot is less likely to poop in the car in the morning and traffic is not nearly as bad. The clinic seems a lot busier in the afternoons too. What was meant to be convenient is actually taking me more time than before. I have a feeling that the vet likes this new time better though, so I may be stuck with it. You have to be careful what you wish for. It is not always what you expect.

I've noticed that since I've moved my e-mail account to the new server, I'm not getting any more spam. The spam must be going somewhere. I don't think anyone's invented a perfect spam filter yet. I need to figure out where the spam is going, because it's probably just sitting in a folder somewhere on the server eating up my hosting space. On the old server there were always important messages mixed in with the spam. I had to check my junk mail folder every day. So, there's my to-do list for tomorrow. Take Dot to the vet and find out where all my missing junk mail is accumulating. Who knows. Maybe hidden away in all the spam is a letter from someone who would like to hire me.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2309

I spent the morning trying to learning how to create rewrite rules within my website's .htaccess file. On the old web server I had somebody who could do this for me, but apparently now I have to do it myself. Why is this important? Well, part of my website isn't working correctly and the hosting company says it isn't their responsibility to fix it. This is usually how I learn to write code. Sheer necessity is always a good incentive to learn new things. That being said, using PHP, Perl, Javascript, or in this case, writing instructions for the Apache web server, has never come naturally to me. By lunchtime, I had a headache and still didn't really understand what I was doing.

This afternoon, I tackled a much easier task. I prepared my April invoices. Sending out monthly invoices used to take me the better part of a day, but now I can do everything in less than an hour. When you don't have many clients, you don't have many invoices. I took the invoices to the post office, hoping that Dot wouldn't poop in her bed while I was gone.  On the way home I stopped at a little tailor shop in the neighborhood to ask whether they could put a new lining in an old leather jacket I like. I should have picked a better day. The tailor wasn't open on Mondays.

I'm still having to water the lawn every day, so the new St. Augustine grass will establish roots. The soggy lawn wouldn't be a problem if the dogs would stay on the grass. Inevitably, they head straight for the ground cover though and end up getting their paws muddy. Since I have to follow Dot around, holding up her rear legs, I get my shoes muddy as well. In and out we go over and over again. It's amazing how simple things like this can eat up your day.

The little LED lights on my activity tracker have quit working. I like these little Jawbone UP bands, but they sure don't last very long. The band still works and will sync with my phone, but I can't tell if it is in normal or sleep mode. I no longer get any warning when the battery is low either. The two little indicator lights don't work at all. I wonder if it is even worth the trouble to get another of these fitness bands. I've had three already and they all seem to last about a year.

My holy grail is something that will last forever. I haven't found it yet. I did find a place in Florida that still sells parts for my troublesome French toilet. Unfortunately, they don't sell fully assembled fill mechanisms. They just sell the component parts, which must be assembled. Since all these little threaded parts can leak water if they aren't assembled properly, this seems like a recipe for disaster. Maybe I could just buy the parts and have a plumber assemble them for me. I'll have to find a new plumber though. My current plumber hates these toilets and refuses to work on them.

I'd like to do something interesting tomorrow. I could learn a new song on the guitar. I could get out the sewing machine and try to fix the lining on my jacket myself. I could submit some more photos to my stock agency. None of these things seem all that interesting though. They just seem like chores. I
really don't know where the magic is anymore.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2240

I felt something bite me on the neck while I was sitting at the computer this morning. When I looked in the mirror, I discovered it was a tick. Damn. This is the second time this year I've found a tick crawling on me. Ironically, the dogs are completely free of ticks. Now that we've finally found an effective flea and tick preventative for the dogs, I think the ticks have started looking for greener pastures. Apparently, I look pretty appetizing.

The adapter I ordered arrived today, but unfortunately it didn't fit very well. It was supposed to snap into place on top of a battery plate to allow a different type of battery to be used. The connection was just too snug for a reassuring snap. I could press the thing halfway into place, but that was it. I called the manufacturer and the service representative told me to press harder and that if the adapter broke, he'd send me a new one. This wasn't very reassuring. I suspect that if I look very closely, I will find the words Made in China stamped on the poorly fabricated piece of junk.

This must have been my day to talk with customer service representatives because when I finished talking to the guy from the lighting company, I got a call from the company that makes my fitness band. "Are you still having problems," she asked. Of course I was still having problems, so we spent the next twenty minutes talking about possible solutions. I'd already tried most of the things she'd suggested, so the conversation basically went nowhere. After we'd talked for a while, she told me that my fitness tracker was out of warranty and she couldn't replace it anyway.

Dot was panting more than usual today. We almost didn't give her a walk this morning, but she quit panting and seemed perfectly normal once we were outside. Later in the day, she started panting again, just walking around the house. I was going to take her temperature, but I couldn't find the dog thermometer. Eventually, I found two digital thermometers, but I wasn't sure which one was for people and which was for the dogs. I got this wrong once before and all the sudden we had two dog thermometers. You kind of hate to put a thermometer in your mouth after it's been in a dog's butt. 

I was confused about an upcoming photo shoot, so I called the client to get some clarification. She didn't really know what was going on either and told me to just show up on the specified day and go with the flow. OK. I can do that. That's basically what I do every day. It would be nice to know what I was supposed to do, but in all honesty it won't make a big difference. Sometimes work is actually easier when you don't know what you're doing.

Dot pooped in her bed twice today. She didn't even wake up when she had the accidents, which is definitely a new development. In the past, Dot was always aware of what was going on and made an effort to get up and move away from the mess. If this happens in her sleep now, it probably means that something is getting worse. There are all sorts of subtle signs that Dot is slowly going downhill, but since she still has her good days, it's easy to convince yourself that everything is fine. Every week, I make a list of new developments for the vet, but there not much more I can do to slow down the aging process. We just do our best to keep her comfortable and happy.

Maybe I'll have something exciting to tell you tomorrow. Nah. Just kidding. Nothing ever happens on Wednesday.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2230

I feel silly complaining about the weather on a day where the entire East Coast is experiencing one of the worst blizzards in history. Texas has its problems, but we seldom get three inches of snow an hour. Jeez, a grand total of three inches of snow period is enough to shut the entire city of Dallas down. At an rate, if you're reading this in the middle of a snowstorm, please stay safe. I can't think of any good reasons to be out on the roads tonight.

Compared to what I was watching on TV this evening, our own weather seemed almost benign. It was cold, but nothing out of the ordinary for January. It even warmed up enough later in the day for me to go up on the roof and clear the water away. There wasn't as much water as I expected, so a lot of it must have blown off the roof during an unusually windy day we had earlier in the week.

Dot had another accident during the night, but I've become so efficient at cleaning things up that I didn't even wake Janet and Dash up while I was getting Dot fresh blankets and loading the washing machine. When I took the bagged up poop out to a special can by the back fence we're reserved for Dot's accidents, I noticed that the sky had turned cloudy. I'll have to wait until things clear off again to look for Mercury in the morning sky. If there's a clear morning tomorrow, I shouldn't have a problem finding the illusive planet. I discovered recently that there is an app on my iPad that uses GPS and a sophisticated star map to mimic the night sky. You just take your iPad outside with you and point it in the general direction of what you are looking at. All the stars and planets in front of you are correctly identified based on the local time and your location. I've tried using this a few times and it's really pretty cool.

What isn't cool is my Jawbone UP band. Another one bit the dust today, so I went to the website where you describe the symptoms you're having and hope the manufacturer will send you a replacement. I love these little fitness and activity trackers, but they aren't very reliable. The bright yellow UP 24 that broke today is the fourth one I've had so far. They all work perfectly until the day they don't. Sometimes they last a year. Sometimes they last 45 days. Occasionally, a reset procedure will bring the band back to life, but typically when the two small status lights quit working, your band is toast.

I looked in two different stores, but couldn't find a DVD copy of The Martian. The movie was released on DVD several weeks ago, so it should have been on the shelves. Actually, there were very few recent movies on the shelves at all. It was almost as if stores weren't even bothering to stock many titles anymore. I think this just illustrates how fundamentally Netflix has changed the landscape. People don't buy DVD's anymore, they just watch them on Netflix, Hulu, or Google Play. Maybe I should just rent The Martian on Netflix like everybody else does. It would certainly be less expensive. My bookshelves are littered with DVD's I've only watched once. The whole concept of owning something is becoming an anachronism and I'm one of the dinosaurs keeping it alive.

My pants are telling me that it's time to go to the gym again. The problem with Winter is that if you wear compression pants under your jeans and sweaters under your outer coat, everything feels too tight. I get cold easily and I even feel too bundled up inside the house. Going to the gym won't fix all this, but I always need a reason to go to the gym. Tight pants seems to be as good a reason as any.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2122

I had an actual deadline today, so things were a little busier than usual. I met the deadline and even had time for a revision. We'll see if the deadline was real when I find out whether there are further revisions tomorrow. I've learned from experience that a lot of deadlines are imaginary. I'm not complaining though. It was actually a good thing that I had something to keep me busy while I waited for the guy from Dent Zone to come out to the house and fix the dent on my car.

The technician from Dent Zone arrived right on time and in less than ten minutes the dent was gone. I'm always amazed at how this process works. I used to think that they used some sort of vacuum process to suck the dent out from the outside of the car. They actually push the dent out from the inside. There's definitely an art to removing dents this way. The guy had some special tools that he inserted through the rear door window and gently pushed the metal back in place. I asked him how long it took him to learn this odd skill and he told me it took him three years. The guy was good though. There is absolutely no sign that a loose shopping cart ever hit my car.

Dash is still having problems with his leg. The limp is very sporadic and there's no telling when it is going to occur. Today he walked absolutely normally for about fifteen minutes, hopped on one foot for about five steps, and then resumed walking normally the rest of the way home. The more I watch Dash walk, the more I'm convinced that the vet was right. I think he did strain a ligament and the knee is loose right now. I know from experience how easy it is for a knee or shoulder to go out of joint. I injured my knee in college, and even after surgery, it still occasionally goes out of joint today. I've learned to anticipate many of the things that cause my knee to go out of joint, and for the most part, it doesn't cause me a lot of problems. This is probably harder for a dog. I'm sure Dash doesn't know what is going on when his knee pops out of joint and just starts hopping as a reflex. The vet says the ligament is not torn and should heal by itself. I hope she's right.

I got an e-mail from Jawbone today telling me that there was a new firmware update for my fitness band that would double the battery life. I wonder how they managed that? The UP band still has the same battery and I would assume that the capacity is the same as well. It's quite a trick to extend the battery life from seven days to fourteen days with a software patch. I downloaded the update because I appreciate longer battery life as much as the next guy. I still wonder what they did though. Maybe they just turn the band off periodically and use an algorithm to estimate what I'm doing while it's off. I'm not sure how accurate these things are anyway. The UP band and my Apple Watch never agree about the number of steps I take during the day.

I wish I could go back to afternoons for Dot's Thursday physical therapy appointment. Believe it or not, I'm having trouble getting out of the house in time to make an 11 AM appointment. My simple routines apparently take an enormous amount of time. I'll have to make sure to keep things moving along tomorrow. I can always save some time by not dawdling over breakfast. We bought too many bananas this week, so this morning I put an extra one in my smoothie. I won't do that again. Two bananas is definitely one too many. I'm going back to my original recipe tomorrow.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2098

Strangely, I actually enjoyed going to the gym today. There's no danger of me becoming a CrossFit fanatic, or buying a bicycle, but it is nice to feel in control of your own body. My dislocated shoulder is very gradually becoming stronger. I'm not gaining weight, even though I'm starting to eat normal food again. I still see some muscle atrophy in my arms and legs, but there is no flab. I'm just thin. I've still got a long, long way to go. Even though I have a much greater range of motion than I did a year ago, my shoulder is still very shaky and I can't even do a single push up without knocking my shoulder out of joint.

I spend most of my time at the gym using the arm crank and an elevated treadmill. The arm crank, or hand bicycle, is often a lonely and largely unused piece of equipment in many gyms. That's good, because there's always one of these machines available for me. The arm crank is a great way to get an intense cardiovascular workout while strengthening your upper body. I always spend at least 20 minutes on the hand bike and another 20 minutes using a treadmill that lets you walk at a steep incline. These two exercises are not for fun. I do one to help stabilize my shoulder and the other to avoid losing bone density. For fun, I shoot, baskets at the free throw line and occasionally punch a heavy bag for a while. Add in several miles of dog walks each day and I'm really not in bad shape for an old geezer.

Sunday is definitely the physical day of the week. We typically attempt to clean the house on Sunday, which usually involves lots of vacuuming and scrubbing things. The house doesn't look much better when we're done, but the Dyson is full of dust, so we must have accomplished something.

Today's chores included writing a bio that Janet needed for her new company. "What do you want me to write," I asked her. "Oh, just make something up," she said. Hmm. Every time I'm asked to do this, I realize that I don't really know much about Janet after thirty years. She seemed happy with the result though. Just another advertising job with zero input from the client. 

After I wrote her bio, I fixed Janet's activity tracker. She said it was broken and was going to throw it away. I suspected that there was nothing wrong and did a soft-reset on the band and plugged it into my computer to recharge. Two hours later, it was as good as new. I've done the same procedure many times on my own Jawbone activity tracker. I like the little UP bands, but Jawbone's quality control is terrible. Jawbone has already replaced three defective bands for me and Janet has had several lemons as well. If Apple can ever come up with a way to get their watch battery to last overnight and add a decent sleep tracker app, I may stop using the Jawbone wrist band entirely.

Dot had a really good day today, although she didn't poop on her evening walk, which probably means we are in for trouble tonight. She is noticeably stronger than she was a month ago and is even starting to walk at a faster pace. I may be imagining things, but I think she is even starting to gain a little muscle mass back on her left rear leg. While we are working to help Dot get stronger, we are also working to help Dash gain confidence. We take him to the small dog park at least once a week, hoping that he will start to play with other dogs again. Progress has been slow, but at least he isn't running away from the other dogs now. He is the largest dog in the small dog park, but the other dogs seem to accept him. Everything is baby steps these days, but I think we're making progress.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day