Day 4567

Dawn seems a little calmer today. She still doesn't want to leave the safety of the bedroom, but she will come out to the kitchen to eat her meals, and walk down to the meadow behind our house to do her business. Today, all I had to say was "dinner's ready" and she ran right out to her bowl to eat. This is an improvement over yesterday.

I still need to remember to fill her water bowls frequently during the day and make sure she takes her meds at the proper time. Dawn and I both live by a fairly rigid schedule, so we're working on getting everything coordinated.  I think we're doing pretty well. Dawn still doesn't like me in the bedroom with her during the day, but is perfectly comfortable sharing the bed with me at night. It's always been this way and I still don't have an explanation.

Since my gym wasn't open today, I took my long walk right after breakfast. I probably should have left the house earlier, but Dawn and I slept in this morning. Neither of us are early birds. The temperature was still in the mid 80's around 9 AM but climbed quickly during my walk. I don't see many ducks and geese anymore. I don't know where they're hiding to get out of the heat, but they must have found a good place. No such luck for me. I was able to complete my entire route, even though I was getting pretty hot toward the end. I probably should take these long walks before I eat breakfast, but I doubt that I'd have much of an appetite when I got back. I'd probably feel more like throwing up. I'm going to have to make the decision on whether to walk or go to the gym just about every day this summer. It's a tough choice. I don't like to drive in the city, but I don't like to return home drenched in sweat after a walk either. 

I felt better after a shower, but running the shower raises the humidity in the house. I don't like that either. Basically, I just don't like anything about summers in Texas. I remember summers in Colorado and Northern Idaho were much nicer. Maybe just being younger was nicer. I think Dawn has the right idea. She basically just lies in bed all day next to an air condition vent. The bedroom is one of the coolest rooms in the house and the bed is a lot more comfortable than the couch and chairs in the living room. No wonder she doesn't want to share this room. It's the best room in the house.

I still haven't found much to do during the day. I've been avoiding fixing things around the house because I've already done all the easy things. The only things left are difficult tasks with a high risk of failure. I think most of these things can wait for a while. I really need to get the factory recall scheduled for my car, but I'm dreading calling the dealership. They stopped offering free loaner cars after the chip shortage decimated their new and used car inventory. I think they just sold most of the loaner cars. At any rate, the last time they promised me a loaner car, they ended up sending me home in a Uber. Boo. Even though I hate driving, I hate being without a car even more.

It didn't really seem like Sunday today without Dawn's Sunday outing and a trip to the ice cream store. We'll resume these activities when Janet returns. Dawn's a smart dog. Unless her entire support team is around, she feels much safer staying close to home. I can't blame her. I kind of feel the same way.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4192

Another very hot day. We got up early again and walked Dawn before sunrise. I guess we walk Dawn at dawn now. We saw quite a few other people taking their dogs on an early walk. It makes a lot of sense. During this heat wave, an hour before sunrise is the only time when conditions are even bearable. It's still really nice outside before sunrise. I think it was 78 degrees this morning. This doesn't last long, unfortunately. By 9 AM, it's all over for the day.

I learned my lesson yesterday about walking outside in the heat. Today I went back to the gym. Instead of just walking on the indoor track, I resumed the old workout routine I was doing before Covid restrictions closed the gym for a year. Wow. I am definitely out of shape. Evidently, a walk through the park isn't quite the same as lifting weights or putting in some time on the hand bicycle. I've got a lot of work to do. The sad thing is that I wasn't in that great shape a year ago. Now I'm even worse.

My arms are sore this evening which means I must have accomplished something this afternoon. I can't say that I enjoy going to the gym all that much, but it sure beats having a heatstroke. I have a feeling that I'll be back at the gym quite a bit this summer. June is never our hottest month. It's usually much worse here in July and August. I don't know where you'd go to avoid the heat this summer. Most of the Western states are even in worse shape than Texas. I read that it was 115 degrees in Las Vegas today. That's pretty hot.

I've just about given up on the idea of going to Florida for a launch this summer. School is out. Everyone is on vacation. And anything related to travel is much more expensive than it was a year ago. I wonder how long this collective urge to get out of the house will last? Maybe by this Fall vacation fever will have abated. The launches I'm most interested in are all getting postponed anyway, so perhaps it will all work out. I have no interest in fighting the crowds. Sooner or later things have to start getting back to normal.

Tomorrow I've got to haul all the dead Photinia trees I cut down out to the curb for the bulky trash trucks to pick up. There's still one dead tree left. Maybe I'll cut that one down tomorrow as well. It's depends on how hot it is. I'm surprised at how quickly we've gone from lush green grass to a bone dry yard. I'm going to have to start watering the yard again. Without water it won't take long for the grass and shrubs to wither and die. Unfortunately, if you water the grass a lot, your water bill skyrockets. I guess all the utility bills skyrocket in the summer. I hate to even think what next month's electric bill is going to look like.

Janet took Dawn to training class again this evening. She said Dawn did well and is becoming accustomed to this new activity. Dawn likes being around other dogs, so even if she never becomes an obedience star, the class will still be good for her. I can't decide whether to go watch her some evening or not. I have a feeling that Dawn probably does better in class without me around. I also have a feeling that if I was just sitting in a lawn chair watching the class, I'd get eaten alive by mosquitos.

I wonder what I used to do during the hot summer months? I doubt that I just sat inside and complained about the weather, but maybe I did. It's really hard to remember what I was doing ten years ago. Hopefully my interest in astronomy, dogs, and space will continue, so I'll have something to do ten years from now.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day