Day 3458

Janet and I temperament tested a dog this afternoon. I think I've already told you about Xander. He's got a good home if he gets along with other dogs. With the help of the kennel staff we introduced him to a variety of different dogs and he passed his test with flying colors. Some dogs tolerate other animals. Xander really seems to like them. He was curious, playful, and gentle with everyone we introduced him to. Now we just need to see if his potential companion is equally friendly. Xander is not dog aggressive. He doesn't appear to be food aggressive either. Somebody is going to get a wonderful companion and friend.

I went ahead and ordered tires today. The good news is that they will be here tomorrow. The bad news is that since they were a special order, I had to pay for them in advance. At least these tires weren't as expensive as the OEM tires that came with the car. I was glad to hear that they'd been discontinued and replaced with a more reasonably priced tire. Keep in mind that 'reasonably priced' is a relative term when it comes to Land Rover parts. In my experience absolutely nothing has been reasonably priced.

It was weird to be working again. I finished my client's website updates this morning and uploaded the changes to the server. Amazingly, I remembered the client's old passwords and remembered most of the HTML code I needed. It takes a little longer to do this stuff if you don't do it every day, but I guess I passed my temperament test as well. Could it be that coding is like riding a bicycle? I might remember some of what I know forever. At any rate, I think I did a good job. Hopefully, the client will agree.

I took the money I made selling the guitars to the bank. It won't stay there long. My homeowner's insurance is due, I just had a large tree removed, and then there are those pesky Land Rover tires. Everything is so expensive now. I still have prices in my head from the 1970's. Unfortunately those days are gone. I think my favorite year was 1969. It definitely isn't 2019.

I saw a Purple Passionflower today. I haven't seen one of these bloom in years because they grow in a section of the park that wasn't accessible to Dot and Dash after they became sick. As the dogs became older and less mobile, we had to limit our walks to safe, relatively flat areas where they wouldn't fall. Walking was more difficult for me as well, since I was holding up their rear legs using the Help 'Em Up Harness. I've started walking the old trails again. They bring back memories. We'll see how long this lasts. My feet are telling me that I'm going to need a Help 'Em Up Harness myself some day.

This week went amazingly fast, considering that we spent most of it without electricity. Janet and I stayed surprisingly busy during the power outage. Even though we both seem to have good survival skills, I'm glad the power is back. I'm certainly sleeping better now. Everything is more or less back on schedule. I just finished taking the week's trash out to the curb. I hope the trash truck can find everybody's cans. They look insignificant next to the huge piles of tree branches and logs stacked along the street.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3448

Janet and I picked up Xander at the vet today and took him back to the rescue kennel. He wasn't very enthusiastic about wearing a cone, but it couldn't be helped. We took the cone off briefly to take a picture, but he's going to have to wear it for a while. Xander has just been neutered. I think this was the largest dog I've ever had in my car. It was hard to believe he was only one year old. He's a good looking boy who is very strong. I'm glad there weren't any squirrels nearby.

While we were at the kennel, we spent some quality time with each of the other dogs in the program. They are all getting to know us now. Some like to chase a ball. Others are like velcro and follow you everywhere. A few seem very receptive to training and we've already taught them to sit and stay. We even taught one dog to roll over. Nobody is shy anymore. They all look forward to seeing us.

I'm glad the kennel has large air conditioned play rooms. It was too hot to be outside for very long. The dogs would go outside to pee, but quickly returned to the cooler inside rooms to play and beg for treats. The dogs were a lot smarter than I was today, since I continued to ignore the weather and took my regular walks anyway. When I returned this morning, I was drenched in sweat and had to change my clothes. Even my hat was wet today. The weird thing is that summer is just getting started. There are going to be many days where the temperature is much hotter than this.

I did manage to go to the bank and take a few letters to the post office, but most of the day was consumed with walking in the park and visiting the rescue Dalmatians. I still find it strange that doing so little can take up the entire day. I guess this is what retirement is all about. Whatever you are doing expands to fill the time you have available.

I got a check from one of the auction houses today. I think this means that all the auctions are over. Everything sold with the exception of one piece of art that I'll need to get returned. The whole process was surprisingly easy and I don't miss anything. It was time to say goodbye to these things. I wish old electronic gear was as easy to sell as artwork and antiques. There's not much of a market for old, obsolete gear. Even the vintage guitars are taking a long time to sell. I have a feeling that not as many kids want to be rock stars anymore. Maybe they want to be DJ's or rappers, but not many seem to want to form a band like The Eagles or Pink Floyd.

The next thing on my list is to get the car serviced and buy new tires. NASA still hasn't set a firm launch date for the Falcon Heavy mission, but it can't be that far away. I'm still thinking that it makes more sense to drive. I have no schedule and can take as long as I want to make the trip. I can't say that I enjoy driving, but I don't really enjoy flying either. We'll see how this goes. I definitely would like to become a space blogger and get invited to more launches like this in the future.

There's nothing exotic planned for tomorrow. I'll drink my smoothie, take my walk, and probably turn off the TV in disgust after watching the morning news. I'm never happy with the weather. It won't take many more hot days before I'll be begging for rain.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day