Day 3515

Hank is a 50 pound puppy. You couldn't find a sweeter dog if you tried, but he knows nothing and tries to eat everything. We thought we'd dog proofed the house pretty well before we brought him home last night. Within a matter of minutes Hank had found things we didn't even know we had and was carrying them around in his mouth. After we retrieved a ball of lip balm, a rubber door stopper, and several shoes Hank had snatched, we methodically went room to room and placed everything loose on a high shelf. We had forgotten the primary rule of puppyhood: if you can chew it, you will chew it.

We don't know much about Hank's background. He's probably around two years old. He was picked up as a stray and clearly whoever owned him first never bothered to provide even the most rudimentary training or socialization. It's a shame that a beautiful, sweet dog like this has gotten off to such a bad start. Despite his lack of manners, Hank was good around the house. We weren't well prepared with gates and crates, so we just let him sleep on the bed with us. He did pretty well. For the most part he slept soundly, although he did wake me up once trying to pull the Fitbit off my arm and had an episode of the zoomies, chasing a rubber ball around the house at 3 AM. He also tried to drag the blanket off our bed. All of this was pretty normal for a young dog. We've had old, sick dogs for so long that we'd almost forgotten what a young Dalmatian is like.

Hank seemed healthy and happy while he was at our house, but after we took him up to the vet for evaluation, they reported a few hours later that he'd had bloody diarrhea again. He wasn't throwing up blood after all. The blood was in his stools. This will help the vet diagnose the problem, but we're still not sure what is going on. His blood work and lab tests look normal and an x-ray showed no obstructions in his stomach or intestines. There are many things that can cause bloody diarrhea. The fact that the blood is still red would indicate that the problem is probably in his colon instead of his stomach or upper intestines, but he will need further tests to determine what is wrong. Hank is still at the vet. He is eating a bland diet and taking medication that will help with any irritation he might have in his digestive system. Hopefully nothing is serious. Hank is young and deserves a long and healthy life.

I took Janet to one of my breakfast restaurants on the way home from the vet and then we both resumed our daily routines. It took a long time to get the dog hair out of the car. Hank sheds even more than Dot and Dash did. The cable guy came and hooked up the new buried fiber optic cable this afternoon, although I never saw him. When I came home from my morning walk, the old temporary cable was still attached. The next time I left the house, everything had been fixed. I never heard a thing. The technician must have come while I was taking a shower.

Taking Hank to the vet in rush hour traffic made me glad that I am retired. Drive time traffic in Dallas is horrible now. I don't know how people can stand to do this everyday. It's been so long since I've driven to work on a regular basis that I forget how much Dallas has grown. It feels like I'm driving in Los Angeles now. I'm glad I was able to work out of my house while I had my own company. It kept me sane.

If we have another dog emergency, we're going to have to assemble a dog emergency kit. It would have been good to be able to gate off a few rooms last night. We definitely need to retrieve some water and food bowls from the storage warehouse. Leashes, a sturdy harness, poop bags, a first aid kit, and a few indestructible Kongs are all necessities. I'm glad we were able to help Hank last night. It was nice to have a dog around the house again.

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2752

I spent most of the morning at the emergency room. I've had painful wrists for years, but yesterday I noticed that the pain was getting worse. It was excruciating last night and I couldn't even sleep. When I fell after the dog bit me, I must have either sprained or broken my wrist. Even though I rarely take pain pills, I took one of Janet's powerful after surgery pills in hopes that it might help me get some sleep. This morning, I still felt miserable, so I decided to go to the emergency room and get some x-rays.

Yesterday, I was driving Janet to the doctor. Today, she was driving me. Luckily, she got the OK to drive again just this morning. Amazingly, the emergency room wasn't very full. I got admitted within fifteen minutes and my whole exam from start to finish was less than three hours. All things considered, I felt like I was treated very well. I didn't have any broken bones, but I did have a severe sprain along with clear signs that I have osteoarthritis in my hands. I was fitted for a splint, given a few ice packs, a pain killer prescription and sent on my way. The doctor who examined me referred me to an orthopedic specialist to confirm the arthritis diagnosis.

Basically I'm a mess right now. My left hand is in splint, I can't raise my right hand very high because of my dislocated shoulder, and both legs are still very swollen and painful from the dog bites. Poor Dash isn't going to get a walk for a while. He doesn't seem very upset though. Actually, I think he likes hanging around the house with us. It's been a long time since Janet and I both spent all day in the house for weeks at a time. We may be going stir crazy, but Dash approves of this arrangement. He likes having the whole family together.

Despite all my problems, I still managed to get my computer upgraded. the employees at the repair place loaded the computer in and out of the car for me. Somehow, I managed to carry it from the driveway to the house with one hand. Amazingly, everything still works. The technicians told me that I prepared the clone drive correctly and I now have a working 4 terabyte internal drive. Probably my computer will be obsolete before I run out of space again.

Animal control didn't waste any time investigating the dog bite. They interviewed Janet while I was in the emergency room and I think they tried to interview the dog sitter as well. I told the owners to expect this when I talked with them yesterday. Physicians are required by law to report all dog bites. The dog will have to be quarantined while he is evaluated. If the owners are lucky, they will be allowed to quarantine him at home. Even though this dog bit me, I'd still hate to see him have to go to the pound.

The doctor sent me home with an ice pack and a splint. Unfortunately, I can't use the ice pack while I'm wearing the splint. You'd think somebody would have designed these things a little better. I've got to decide whether to use the ice pack or take a pain pill tonight. I think I'll opt for the Codeine. The ice I used last night didn't really do much.

Just so you know, it wasn't very easy to type this. I'm not going to let a bum wrist slow me down though. This is Day 2752 and it needs to be documented.

Delaney is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1814

Well, the news wasn't good at the dentist. I have extensive decay in one of my lower wisdom teeth and the tooth will have to be removed by an oral surgeon. This particular wisdom tooth has always been a problem because it came in at an angle and is pressing against my other teeth. The cavity on the wisdom tooth has spread to the adjacent molar and the dentist won't be able to tell whether this tooth can be saved until the wisdom tooth is removed. Evidently the location of the decay in the molar might make it very difficult to repair. I need to see an Endodontist as well, to see if telltale signs of a root canal problem in another tooth that showed up on today's x-rays needs further attention. So, that's three different teeth and three different dentists. I'm not looking forward to this.

On the plus side of things, the dentist I went to today was fantastic. Janet, who has had every dental problem imaginable, recommended him and as far as I'm concerned, he lived up to his "super-dentist" reputation. This guy, who mostly does complex Prosthodontic dentistry, was extremely knowledgeable and had an array of high-tech equipment that I didn't even know existed. Have you ever had a panoramic dental x-ray? You stick your entire head into a large machine which takes a 360 degree digital picture of your mouth. Digital x-rays are kind of amazing, since you see them on screen as they are being taken. You can blow them up quite large and see all the tiny little blood vessels that keep the teeth alive. I've never seen my teeth in such detail.

On my way home from the dentist, a message appeared on the instrument panel of my car that said "Service Required." I'd never seen this message before, so I stopped by the Land Rover dealer to see what it meant. It turned out that there was nothing wrong. The message was just a reminder that it was time for my next scheduled service. Evidently these messages are pre-programmed into the car's computer and appear when the car decides it's time to hand over some more money to the dealer. I went ahead and scheduled a service appointment while I was at the dealer. I've had Land Rovers for long enough to have learned that you ignore maintenance on these cars at your own peril. I'd much rather have a little sign on the dash remind me now, than have to call a tow truck later. At any rate, with three dental visits and a car repair, it looks like it's going to be an expensive month.

It was much warmer today, but it was also much cloudier. It looked like it was going to rain all day, which probably means the rain will just be delayed until it's time to take Dot for her physical therapy session tomorrow. Maybe it will just rain while we sleep tonight. That would make life a little easier.

I'll investigate dental insurance tomorrow, but I'm not expecting much. If you need anything complex done, dental insurance only pays a small fraction of the total cost. Every little bit helps though, so I'll see what I can find out. I got approved for physical therapy on my shoulder today as well. That will be one more doctor I need to add to my contact list. Oh, to be 25 again. I'm sure Dot thinks the same thing whenever she sees a squirrel. We're both doing the best we can to age gracefully, but as far as we're concerned, getting old sucks.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1507

The bad news is that I apparently did dislocate my right shoulder on Tuesday. The good news is that I probably won't need surgery. After spending the better part of the day reading old magazines in two different waiting rooms, I finally received some pain pills and a cortisone shot directly in my shoulder joint. I'm already starting to feel a little better, but I can't walk the dogs for two weeks. When I go to the gym, I need to forgo the upper body exercises for a while as well.

Last night was terrible. I didn't sleep a wink. I finally got so tired of the dogs bumping into my arm on the bed, that I pushed two of their dogs beds together in the living room and slept there. Well, I tried to sleep anyway. It was painful on my back, on my side, and on my stomach. There was just no escape from the painful shoulder. Janet walked the dogs and drove me to the doctor this morning, but it put her way behind at work. We're going to have to find a dog walker for a short time while I heal.

I got a call this afternoon saying that I had been approved to begin my Hepatitis-C treatment. It looks like I will begin taking the newly approved medicine next week. It is absolutely astounding how expensive these little miracle pills are. You could purchase a very nice new car for what it costs to take the new 12-week Solvadi and ribavirin regime. Luckily my insurance will pick up most of the tab. It's hard to believe that a few little pills could ever cost so much, but I guess the pharmaceutical company is trying to recover the enormous cost of developing these pills.

I didn't do well with my writing assignments today. It's hard to type with one hand. It's actually a lot easier to drive with one hand, although shifting can still be a little tricky. I drove to my second doctor's appointment myself and somehow made it home again in one piece. Hopefully, I will at least partially regain the use of my other hand by tomorrow. I have a big photo assignment on Saturday and I'm a little worried that I won't be able to pick up my five pound DLSR. A lot could change by Saturday though. I'm optimistic at this point.

You learn a lot about the healthcare system when you spend your day sitting in waiting rooms. Today, I learned that medicine is way too expensive, waiting rooms are way too crowded, and doctors are almost universally stressed and overworked. I asked my doctor this morning how Obamacare was working out for him.  He said it was total chaos at his clinic. He told me that nobody has a clue about what to charge patients, or even whether the patients are actually insured. The only person I know personally who is a fan of Obamacare happens to own an insurance company. If insurance executives actually like the plan, this tells me all I need to know. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when all those big insurance executives got together with the president. You know they walked away from that meeting with some kind of sweet deal.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1506

It wasn't a particularly good day. I was waylaid at an early morning meeting and arrived home about an hour late to discover that Dash had pooped all over the office carpet. It was past time for his morning walk and he just couldn't hold it any longer. Since I was still dressed in my best Armani suit, I had to quickly change, quarantine the dogs in another room so they wouldn't make the smelly mess worse, and then clean everything up before we began a walk that had been delayed even further. The dogs weren't happy, and neither was I. Something told me that this might happen as I watched this morning's meeting drag on. My life has become so regimented with the dogs that I want to scream at people if they cause delays or get me off my schedule by even ten minutes. Hey, guys. Any additional business you might bring me just isn't worth the thought of spending hours cleaning dog poop off the carpet.

My arm hurts more today than it did yesterday. The right shoulder has become so painful that I can hardly move it. I even had trouble turning the steering wheel on the way home this morning. I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I've dislocated my shoulder before and x-rays usually show nothing. I suspect that I have a soft tissue injury or torn muscle and that the recipe for recovery is lots of rest. I don't think lots of rest is in the cards just yet.The dogs are going to need their walks no matter what is wrong with my arm.

Once Dot and Dash were settled in for the rest of the day, I brewed a pot of coffee and started my work assignments. On days like today where I lose thousands in a stock market sell-off, the paltry hundreds I earn back by writing seem insignificant. My writing clients want things too quickly, my website clients want more complicated things than they are willing to pay for, and I'm growing tired of the whole charade. Most of the people at the Wednesday networking group tell me they love their jobs, but I don't believe them. They've all described to me what they actually do and I don't see much to love. Work sucks these days. It's kind of like that State of the Union address last night. If Obama was really honest he would have said that the Union was in the crapper. No president does that though. They all say that the State of the Union is strong.

If my arm doesn't feel any better tomorrow, I'm going to go get an x-ray and a referral to see a good physical therapist. That's about the only thing I can think of. If Dash poops on the carpet again tomorrow, I don't know what I'm going to do. Doesn't he realize that most of the floors in our house are brick? If he has to go, why can't he poop on the bricks?

Oh, well. Tomorrow is a new day. Unfortunately it is only Thursday. I'm ready for seventy degree temperatures again, and I'm definitely ready for Friday.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1497

The furnace is working again. Marty, my favorite technician, came over to the house to work on the furnace. The problem actually did turn out to be a dirty flame sensor, just as I expected. Marty was initially puzzled why this was happening so frequently. After a lengthy call to the manufacturer, it was determined that the problem wasn't with the furnace itself, but with where it was located. Since the furnace is installed in a fairly small laundry room, instead of in the attic or basement where most furnaces are located, it is subjected to much more dust and lint than normal. Every time the pilot light ignites, a small fans turns on, sucking the dirty laundry room air into the combustion chamber. Over time, some of this dust is deposited on the flame sensor and fused to it by the flame. Although this is a clear and rational explanation of the problem, I don't know what the solution is. The furnace certainly won't fit in any other room of the house.

Dot had her spinal X-Rays today. We're still trying to determine the true cause of the ongoing weakness in her legs that is slowly causing her muscles to atrophy. The radiology report was very positive. There are no slipped or ruptured disks. That's good! I'm no expert, but her X-Rays looked fabulous to me. I've seen worse on much younger dogs. It could be that when all is said and done, we find out that Dot is just a very old dog in excellent health for her age. One difficulty with rescue dogs is that you never really know how old they are. A rescue dog's birthday is usually the day you adopted them. Dot could be a mildly arthritic 12 year old, or the world's healthiest 15 year old Dalmatian. I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

The posters I did yesterday were well received. If I created and printed more of these large posters, I probably wouldn't have any of my ongoing problems with clogged ink lines. Of course, the reason I don't have time to piddle around making fine art posters is that I'm way too busy earning a living. If the stock market was as predictable as it was when I initially started investing, I could probably make a decent living from my investments alone. Then I could  go back to making arty posters again. That's not likely to happen though. The world is insane. Market forces are just part of the equation now. Geopolitical issues, monetary policy, and those age old demons fear and greed all get in the way these days. Investing today is not much different that betting on football teams.

When I was a high flying young ad man, I thought I'd be lying on a beach with a drink in my hand by now. That's not likely to happen either.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1343

One good thing about having so many veterinarians as clients and friends is that Dot and Dash always get excellent medical care. Dot went to her emergency vet today to get X-rays and make sure she hadn't seriously injured her leg. Tomorrow she goes to her regular vet for her annual physical exam. Then, on Wednesday she goes to see her physical therapy vet. I'm hoping that seeing three different vets on three consecutive days will help us find a conclusive answer to the problems she's been having with her rear legs. Today's visit was encouraging. Her spine and hips look remarkably good for a dog of her age. There were no visible signs of Spondylosis or pinched nerves on the X-rays either. She still might have a partial tear of her anterior cruciate ligament, but it doesn't look like she suffered a full tear, which is much more serious.

Since Dot was in no immediate danger and Dash's condition seems to have stabilized, I was able to take care of some of my own medical needs. I took copies of some new blood work over to my Hepatologist. I guess I could have just faxed the records, but there were so many that it seemed easier to drive them over to the hospital. Next, I got another doctor to approve a new cholesterol medication that a third doctor wanted me to start taking. My own medical team might not be as friendly and accommodating as Dot's, but dealing with them is just as complex. I've discovered that getting three or more doctors to agree on anything is next to impossible.

Today was Janet's birthday. We didn't have a huge party with an open bar and a rock band, but we did have some delicious Sprinkles cupcakes. Dot and Dash got to enjoy some Sprinkles doggie cupcakes as well. My favorite new Sprinkles flavor is S'mores. Somehow, they taste exactly like the Graham crackers with melted marshmallows and chocolate that are mandatory on any camping trip. Yes, I know that I'm not supposed to eat any sugar, but I probably won't eat another cupcake until the next birthday party. I think I'm OK.

It's a good thing that work was slow today, because I doubt that I could have met any deadlines today anyway. After I got all my medical errands out of the way, I did have time to update a couple of websites. I couldn't upload the changes though, since one of the sites was moving to a new server. With Dot's annual exam and Dash's antigen shot tomorrow, I hope my workload continues to be slow. After Wednesday is over, you guys can start piling it on again, but let's hold off for a little while. I've got sick dogs to deal with.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 591

One one hand, it was a perfectly normal doctor's visit. On the other hand, it was a perfectly normal client meeting. I'm still getting used to having my personal physician as a client. During my visit today, the doctor would check me for signs of Carpal tunnel syndrome, while I would take videos of him talking about osteoporosis. These two sides to the visit would be happening almost simultaneously. The doc would tell me how to reduce my cholesterol levels, while I would be telling him how to improve his SEO.

I actually like having everyone I know as a client. It makes life simpler. I probably have slipped over to the dark side though. While the rest of the world worries about keeping medical records private, I kept asking the nurse if she could burn me a disk of my X-Rays today so I could put them on the blog.

There are other signs I have succumbed to the digital world as well. I have this cool smart app on my iPhone that lets me deposit checks in my bank just by taking a picture of them. Do I ever use it? Well, not exactly. You see, I also have this cool dumb app on my iPhone called foursquare that tells me I am the Mayor of my bank. So, instead of taking a quick picture with my phone, I drive all the way to bank, just so I can check in and keep someone else from becoming Mayor. I'm Mayor of several other places too, but they're all equally boring pedestrian venues. I'm right on the verge of becoming Mayor of the Post Office.

I got a message from my broker today, saying that the comptroller of a REIT I've been investing in had been caught embezzling from the fund and had managed to steal 7% of the fund's total assets. Nice. What could top this bad news? Oh right...the country's going to go bankrupt next Tuesday. I can't believe that congress still can't get their act together. What did we elect these guys for anyway?

I just found out that two Dalmatians in the rescue program passed away today. I knew both dogs were sick, but kept hoping that they would improve. Harley had bone cancer and I don't know if we'll ever really know the true nature of Bentley's illness. It's really sad when you do everything you can possible think of to bring these guys back to good health and it still isn't enough.

I'm glad our own two dogs are still healthy. I'm also glad that I'm apparently a bit healthier than I thought I was. In between everything else we were talking about this afternoon, my doctor told me that the meds he put me on are working and that although I'm still in a risk group for getting diabetes, I definitely don't have the disease.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day