Day 2953

It was all about Dash today. We got up early to take him to his vet appointment and hoped for the best. Not only is Dash terrible in the car, he's usually not very good when we get where we're going. Today we needed to do three things that he hates. He has an eye infection and will need to take eye drops for a week or so. He always runs away when I try to put the drops in his eye. He was also way overdue for a nail trim and needed his anal glands expressed. He hates these things too. The only thing in our favor was that we were seeing Dash's favorite vet today.

The eye exam went well. Most dogs don't like it when you shine a light in their eye and Dash was no exception. He was well behaved though, so we dodged a bullet. The vet did a test to make sure his tear ducts weren't impacted or clogged and then prescribed some antibiotic drops. I wish I could apply the drops as well as she does. You've got to be quick and decisive.

The vet told us that our friends at the cancer center had good reason to be concerned about trimming Dash's nails, sharing stories of nail trims that went horribly wrong. It is apparently not uncommon for dogs to bleed profusely when their nails are trimmed too close to the quick. The vet was very careful and conservative about how much she trimmed, but one of Dash's nails still bled a little. This is going to be an ongoing problem. We can't ignore Dash's nails, because the longer they get, the greater the risk that he will tear one out. We definitely don't want another episode like the one where he tore his dew claw out in the car. Dash doesn't like it when you mess with his feet though, so nail trims will never be easy. At least there were no problems when he had his anal glands expressed.

After his adventure at the vet, Dash was eager to go back to bed. We skipped our morning walk and I ate a late breakfast. By the time I washed the dishes, took a shower, and cleaned up the dog poop in the yard, it was time for lunch. I don't actually eat lunch myself, but Dash always does. We started giving him a rice cake for lunch years ago because it kept him occupied without making him fat. Now we add some dry food to the rice cake, because it is the only time of day when he will eat kibble. When you start a ritual with a dog, you can never end it. They always remember.

Dash we eager to go outside after he had eaten, so I was able to take him on a nice long walk. The only problem with a noon walk is that it fouls up the evening walk. Apparently, Dash needs a certain amount of time between walks. Just as I expected, Dash refused to leave the yard when it was time for his regular evening walk. I put all his gear on twice, but he just wasn't interested. He didn't refuse to eat though. He was hungry all day.

I turned on the computer out of habit, but there was nothing going on. I've finished my writing jobs for the week and nobody seems interested in changing their website. I need to find something to watch on Netflix because I've certainly got the time. Maybe I'll watch Black Mirror. They say it's like a modern version of the Twilight Zone.

Space X did a static firing of the Falcon Heavy rocket today. This means that it will probably be heading toward Mars with Elon's Tesla Roadster sometime next week. Now this is something I definitely want to watch. There is also going to be an eclipse of the moon toward the end of the month. I may not be interested in much, but astronomy, space, and dogs still keep me tethered to the world.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2862

Janet helped me get Dash's orthopedic and protective gear on before she left for work this morning. I let him wander around the house while I was fixing breakfast, hoping that he'd forget he had it on. This plan seemed to work. He quickly became far more interested in begging for treats from me than in obsessing about his knee brace. About halfway through breakfast, Dash headed toward the back door and I knew he was ready. I was ready too. I put my smoothie in the refrigerator, grabbed a leash, and off we went. Could it be that Dash just wants to walk a little later in the day? Who knows. We took a nice long walk and then I finished my breakfast.

Since this little excursion went well, I decided to take him to the vet to get his anal glands expressed. As usual, he was terrible in the car, but at least I didn't have to worry about poop. He'd already taken care of that on our walk. While we were at the vet, I had the nurse trim his remaining dew claw. Since he tore the first dewclaw riding in the car, I'll always be apprehensive that this type of accident will happen again.

By the time I got Dash home and finished washing the breakfast dishes, it was almost noon. I'd already spent almost half a day dealing with a lovable but very stubborn dog. I fired up the computer to see if there was anything important that I needed to deal with. Of course there wasn't. It was time to get ready for the refrigerator repairman.

I was planning to have the repairman install the new temperature sensor I bought, so I watched a YouTube video to locate where the old sensor was. Locating and installing the sensor seemed simple enough, but after watching the video, I learned that the repairman was right. This particular sensor had nothing to do with my problem.

When the repairman arrived, he had the correct part this time and it only took him about thirty minutes to install it. We didn't bother to defrost the evaporator coil this time, because I'd already done this less than two days ago. The repairman said he was confident that the refrigerator would work this time, since we'd replaced all the parts connected with controlling the defrost cycle. I hope he's right. Having to deal with food that could spoil and go bad is almost as irritating as having to go to the laundromat when your washer breaks. When the repairman left, he told me not to worry. The parts are guaranteed for a year and if the evaporator coil still keeps freezing, he'll keep coming out until the problem is resolved. I thanked the guy and told him I hoped I wouldn't see him again for a long time.

A stray cat has been pooping in our yard and Dash is obsessed with finding and eating the stuff. Now, I've got to shadow him every time he goes outside to pee, so he won't sneak off and eat cat poop. The elusive poop is very hard for me to find, but apparently very easy for Dash to smell. I don't know how I'm going to put an end to this nuisance. The smell will go away eventually, unless the cat keeps coming back. Feral cats should know better than to hang around this neighborhood. There aren't many mice anymore and some of the cats routinely get eaten by coyotes.

I contacted the roofer again and tried without much success to get him to commit to finishing the repairs. This is the only major issue left on my Fall to-do list. There are a couple of holes that need to be patched immediately. I'd much rather have the roofing crew repair the damage, but I'd settle with another five gallon drum of the elastomer material at this point.

If I wasn't so apprehensive about leaving Dash, I'd go see Bladerunner 2049 tomorrow. I'm not very busy. This would be a good time to go. The film has done so poorly at the box office that it probably won't be around much longer. There are even matinee showings now. It won't be long before it will be at the dollar theaters.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2754

Showers aren't a high priority when your legs are bleeding and your wrist is in a splint. It doesn't take long to start missing them though. Since the last time I was able to take a shower was Wednesday morning, I thought it was time to give it a try. I carefully removed the splint, covered the wounds that were still oozing, and turned the water on. Other than holding the soap with one hand and trying to avoid twisting my wrist at an awkward angle, everything went well. It felt good to be clean again.

Since taking a shower was a success, Janet and I thought we might be able to take Dash on a short walk together. He's been getting cabin fever by being cooped up all day and we could tell he needed a walk. I held the leash with my good hand and Janet walked alongside Dash to keep him from running or tugging. Dash seemed delighted that he was outside again, accompanied by both of his people. He took a longer walk than I anticipated, but I seemed to be holding up well. I felt good to be outside again too. It was only after we got home that I realized that we may have walked too far. My left leg was swollen again and I felt very tired.

After breakfast, I took a nap with my legs elevated and resting on ice packs. This seemed to help quite a bit. I'd heard that elevating an injured area above the level of your heart can help minimize bleeding problems, but I wasn't sure how effective this would be. I still don't know how long it is going to take for the hemotoma to be reabsorbed by my body. The sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned. Right now my ankles look like I weigh 300 pounds.

The most ambitious thing we did today was take Dash to the vet to get his anal glands expressed. We were going to take Janet's car, but the rear seat was up and it was too much trouble to reconfigure things. I practiced driving in the driveway with my splint on and discovered that it didn't hinder driving much at all. We took my car. The drive was easy. Getting Dash in and out of the car, not so much. Dash is getting older and he can't hop up through the tailgate anymore. I have to give him a boost by lifting him by his harness as he tries to jump. To do this correctly takes a certain amount of coordination and arm strength. I was glad that the hospital gave me an industrial strength splint. Even though lifting Dash hurt, the splint kept everything secure and in place.

Even though this was probably way too much activity for one day, most of it was necessary. I was feeling filthy and really needed a shower. Dash has been licking his butt all day. And I think we all needed a walk. After resting with my legs elevated for a few hours, I don't think I did any real damage.

When we were walking Dash this morning, we passed a field full of Passionflowers in full bloom. This was a sign to me that we took a walk on the right day. I usually only see these flowers once or twice a year if I'm lucky. They usually bloom in the Summer right after a heavy rain. It rained yesterday.

Janet has another doctors appointment tomorrow, but I may not need to accompany her, since she can drive now. It appears that I can drive too in a pinch. Slowly but surely we are becoming mobile again.

Great is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2635

I picked up a better pair of binoculars today. I'd like to spend some more time stargazing, but I hate the idea of dragging a telescope down to the park at night. Binoculars seemed like a good compromise. Our yard is worthless for observing anything. There are streetlights and lots of car headlights that spoil the view in the front yard and a bright security light in the backyard. The large oak trees almost totally block the sky anyway. Tonight wasn't ideal for viewing since there were a lot of high clouds, but the Moon and Venus looked spectacular.

Today was a busy day. I took Dash to the vet in the morning to get his anal glands expressed and drove over to the UPS customer service center to get the binoculars as soon as I got him home again. Dash seems to need to get his anal glands expressed every two weeks. They get full and make him uncomfortable and then he wakes us up during the night licking his butt. Oddly, Dot never needs to get her anal glands expressed, even though they both eat the same food. Since Dash was much calmer than normal during his exam, I had the nurse take his blood pressure again. This time it was normal. I need to remember to send these results to the cancer center, so they won't waste a lot of time trying to get a blood pressure reading when he's stressed out.

I'm getting better at planning my trips away from the house. Since I ran all my errands in the morning, Dot was still sleeping when I returned. Dot is usually restless in the afternoon, so I try to let her sleep as long as she can. Since her morning nap is a little longer than she can typically hold her bladder, it's always a little dicey when I wake her up for lunch. Sometimes we make it outside to pee and other times we don't.

Considering the amount of time I spent running errands, I still managed to get quite a few website updates completed. There is a new article I need to write tomorrow as well, so maybe things are looking up. I wish my work was more interesting, but at least it's a change of pace from holding up Dot's rear legs all afternoon. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get a challenging project again, but I'm not  complaining. Even mindless work allows me to pretend that I'm not really retired.

When I took the trash out to the curb this evening, it seemed like I've been following the same routines forever. Every day I find myself doing things that I've been doing for decades. I take a picture for the blog. I walk the dogs. I try to do something that is billable. Pick a year. It's all basically the same. Maybe I'll look for a brand new restaurant tomorrow. There's bound to be some place nearby that I've never tried at all. The food might not be good, but I'm not sure it even matters. I need to do something different. I have a feeling that even a small symbolic gesture would be beneficial at this point.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2551

Remind me to never move up north. We woke up to temperatures in the low 30's with a brisk wind. It might as well have been 40 below zero to me. Even though I went to high school in Alaska and have spent a Winter in Idaho, I have completely lost my tolerance for cold. We put Dash's quilted fleece coat on before we walked this morning, but couldn't figure out how to put a coat over Dot's bulky harness. Neither dog seemed to mind the cold. Actually, they seemed to enjoy it. I quickly learned to keep a warm coat next to the door in case Dot needed to go outside. She spent just as much time wandering around aimlessly as she does in warmer weather. I followed dutifully behind, holding up her rear legs, while whispering "for the love of god, please hurry up and pee," to myself.

Dash had a vet appointment this morning. He's starting to have trouble hopping in the car, so it's only a matter of time before his legs start to go out as well. All Dalmatians seem to have this problem as they get older. This wasn't what we went the the vet for, however. All Dash needed today was to get his anal glands expressed. We need to do this at least once a month. Nobody knows why his glands fill up so quickly, but he's had this problem all his life. I'm getting better at scheduling. I made an early appointment so we'd be away while Dot was sleeping. It worked well. She was still asleep when we returned.

Luckily, the furnace is working great this year. Even though it was near freezing outside, the house was toasty warm. I stayed inside as much as I could. There were several website updates that needed attention today, but there was nothing very demanding. I slowly and methodically worked my way through each update and found that I still had time to install the Pro Tools software I downloaded yesterday when I was done.

Avid software updates are always a nightmare. You have to make sure to delete all previous software versions before you start, including lots of pesky little invisible files. Avid has their own uninstaller program, but it doesn't work half the time and you have to do a Google search and discover how other people have learned to delete the files manually. There is also Avid's complex licensing procedure. My iLok dongle often says I don't have the proper software license, even though I really do. When you jump through all the hoops and finally get the software installed and running, you often get a warning message saying that you don't have enough computer memory to actually use it. My Pro Tools 12 installation was a success, but somehow I lost all the plugins from my previous version. Oh, well. I'll deal with that problem later.

I found an old B&H gift card that was going to expire next week and used it to buy another UP3 fitness tracker. The price of these things has dropped dramatically, so that probably means Jawbone is going to discontinue them soon. It's a shame that Jawbone can't seem to make a durable product. The UP3 gets terrible reviews because the clasp is poorly designed and the band inevitably falls off and gets lost. I'm definitely not the only one this has happened to.

I was sad to hear that John Glenn died today. It was hard to believe he was 95. He looked so young when I watched Friendship Seven rocket into orbit in 1962. This was only five years after the Russians launched Sputnik 1 in 1957. I remember that too. Things happened quickly when going into space was a priority. Now we're moving at a snail's pace. I wonder if I'll still be alive when we finally make it to Mars?

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1666

The dogs certainly kept me busy today. They both had vet appointments in different parts of town. Dot did fabulous during her water therapy. She continues to amaze me and has got to be one of the most physically fit senior Dalmatians I've ever seen. She seems to respond well to acupuncture too. I think it relaxes her. Today she went right to the little blue yoga mat in the acupuncture room after her treadmill workout and lay down in the center, waiting patiently for the doctor. I'm really proud of how well she's doing and even the vet thinks she's an inspiration.

Dash's visit to the vet was a little more prosaic. No Chariots of Fire music for him today, although the visit was necessary. He needed his anal glands expressed again.

I got started on a new website project today. No Chariots of Fire music for me either, although I am very happy to have the work. This new site is part of an extended family of sites where I have already completed the master design. The job ahead is more about replicating and adapting things than it is about inventing anything new. There's still a lot of work to do, but I should be able to complete this site in two or three days. Several years ago I would have posted something about a new project like this on my Facebook business page. I don't even bother anymore. After Facebook changed it's algorithm, absolutely nobody sees these business page posts unless you run an ad or pay to promote the post. Forget that! I'm sure you'd much rather see a picture of Dot on the treadmill anyway.

My shoulder is killing me today. I can't think of anything I've done recently to aggravate the old injury, but sometimes it doesn't take much. I don't think this dislocated shoulder is ever going to fully heal. I doubt that it's going to improve much while I'm still walking Dalmatians every day. I need to start going to physical therapy myself again instead of just driving Dot to her therapy sessions. I probably would have started therapy sessions already, but the physical therapist I really like sold his practice and moved out of town. Now I've got to find someone new and you already know how much I like doing new things. I really can't postpone physical therapy too much longer, or I'll be driving the car with one hand again.

It's really been dry this month. This is the time of year when I wish we had an automatic sprinkler system. There are always parts of the yard that I forget to water until I see a tree or bush looking droopy. By then it is often too late. Today I noticed that the Wax Myrtle tree near the front porch was losing some leaves, so I brought out a soaker hose and wet the area down. This tree has seen some tough times, but it always seems to survive. When I'm not forgetting to water it, the bag worms and climbing vines attack it. Oh, well. At least the back yard is still looking good.

I've got a meeting I need to go to tomorrow and the dogs have their training class in the evening. Hopefully, something else happens as well.

Trevor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1654

I finished the initial design for the new website I'm working on today, but I haven't shown it to anybody yet. It's too disheartening to have the layout come back a few hours later marked up with different colors, new pictures, and all the buttons renamed. I think I'll wait till Monday to present the thing. By then I should be able to take the inevitable changes in stride.

Dash had to go to the vet today to get his anal glands cleaned again. I really need to learn to do this myself, since they get full so often. Sticking my fingers up a dog's butt couldn't be any worse than dealing with clients. I don't know why Dash's glands have to be expressed so often. Dot can go years without a problem, but I have to take Dash to the vet every two weeks for this smelly procedure.

I bit the bullet and renewed my storage space for another year this afternoon. There's something very unfair about renting a storage unit. The rent goes up every year, while the value of what I'm actually storing continues to decline. At some point, the whole idea of even having a storage warehouse become ridiculous. I wish there was an easy, painless way to sell stuff without haggling about the price, or dealing with buyers. I hate dealing with buyers. I wish everything was like selling real estate. Selling real estate is OK. You just find an agent you trust. Give them 6%. And they take care of dealing with the buyers. I don't think downsizing is going to be easy. I just don't have the temperment for it.

It didn't rain today, which meant that yesterday's rain turned into humid mugginess. It wasn't bad early this morning, but later in the day the dogs didn't even want to go outside. It was just too humid for them. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I really need to go get all the water off the roof. All the wet weather we've been having this June is creating a real mosquito problem. The mosquitoes are everywhere this year. They're even getting into the house. If I don't get the water off the roof soon, it's going to become a breeding ground for even more mosquitoes. Other people might have fantasies about retiring to a country lake house. I just want to get away from all these bugs.

I've got an appointment tomorrow with the doctor who wanted all those new blood tests. I don't even care what the tests say anymore. I've had way too many blood tests. I kind of feel the way you do when you take your car in for a safety inspection. They hand you a piece of paper at the end of the inspection with all sorts of engine performance numbers on it, but all you're really interested in is whether you passed or failed the test. Medicine should be more like getting your car safety inspected. The doctor should just give you a sticker saying you're good for another year.

I'm already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. Conversely, I'm already dreading jury duty, even though it's over three weeks away. I feel the same way about jury duty as Dot feels about thunderstorms.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day