Day 4257

Dawn is fine. The vet was able to flush a large number of stones from her bladder and no surgery was needed. I was a little worried when the vet called while I was fixing breakfast and told me that Dawn's bladder was empty. He wondered if we had let her go pee before we brought her over. Nope. We did everything exactly as we were instructed. It turned out that Dawn had peed in her kennel run while they were getting ready to do the procedure. Plan B was to give her intravenous fluids and let her bladder fill again. This worked and a few hours later the stones were removed. Her teeth were cleaned as well while she was under anesthesia so she wouldn't have to be anesthetized again a few months later for her scheduled annual teeth cleaning. A sonogram after the procedure confirmed that all the stones are gone and Dawn was able to come home early this afternoon. The vet told us to expect blood in her urine for a day of two, but that the procedure had gone very well.

I'm sure today's events won't do much to alleviate Dawn's fear of riding in the car. Is she going for an ice cream cone at Andy's, or a trip to the vet? Both destinations are in the same general direction. Being anesthetized today certainly didn't ruin her appetite. Dawn was really hungry this evening and I had to feed her a little early.

I was planning to get my car safety inspected today, but the two places I tried both had long wait times and wanted me to leave the car. I used to be able to go to the Land Rover dealer and get an inspection done in fifteen minutes. Those days are gone. When I called Land Rover today they told me that a state inspection would take at least five hours. What this really means is that the dealership is short handed and there aren't enough mechanics. Apparently, nothing works smoothly in a post Covid world. So many things I used to take for granted just don't function the way they used to.

This morning was pleasant, but by the time Dawn was safely home again and sleeping on the bed it had become far too hot for a walk in the park. I went to the gym and discovered that even more treadmills had broken since my last visit. Another example of a dysfunctional world. Why is it proving so hard to fix these machines? There must be over a dozen broken treadmills now. Since we didn't take a sunrise walk with Dawn this morning, I had to work a little longer to get today's steps. Three miles inside always seems a lot longer than three miles outside.

Now that school is back in session, I've had to change my route to a number of locations. You definitely don't want to get stuck in a line of cars waiting to pick their kids up from school. If you are near a school zone, the right hand line is often completely blocked with cars and the other lanes become even more crowded. Drivers in Dallas are rude on a nice day. When school is in session they become even worse.

It would be hard to find someone less interested in politics than I am, but I'm horrified at what's happening in Afghanistan. Why won't Biden just admit that he screwed up royally? It was his decision alone to remove the military before protecting the civilians. He keeps doubling down, blaming everyone else, and looking befuddled and senile while he's doing it. If this is what 'having an adult in charge' looks like, we're all in big trouble.

It's time to make a grocery list again. Whenever I'm out and about, it's become increasingly apparent that merchants and their customers have grown sick of all the conflicting social distancing and mask mandates. It's a free for all now and everyone is just doing what they want. 

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4223

I got a letter from the observatory saying that they were returning to pre-covid operations in September and were looking for volunteers for star parties and special events again. Sounds good to me. I told them that I could spend a week or so out there whenever they needed me. I was thinking of going out to the observatory in October anyway, but September is close enough. I don't know why I like staying out at the Astropnomer's Lodge so much. It feels a bit like a strange secular monastery. I have a simple little room with fast WiFi and all my basic needs are taken care of. You get three meals a day and the food is great. There is no TV or radio at the lodge, but it's easy enough to make a phone call if I need to reconnect with the world. It is very peaceful living on top of Mount Locke. I'm not looking forward to the long drive, but it's always worth it when I get there.

We slept in a bit later today, but still got a fairly early start on Dawn's morning walk. Janet and I are both retired but we still keep the same basic schedule we did while we were working. Weekends are for shopping and sleeping in, even though we could easily do this any day. I noticed that Dawn's paws still looked red and raw while we were walking this morning. As soon as she finishes her antibiotics and gets a clean bill of health on her urinary tract infection, we are going to get her tested for allergies. My gut feeling is that the problem isn't allergies, but a skin patch test is the next logical step. One way or another we've got to figure out what is is causing Dawn to bite and lick at her paws and get her back to normal again. There's a solution for everything, but sometimes it can be very hard to find.

Signs that there was a pandemic last year are slowly starting to disappear. There are no mask mandate notices on the front doors of stores anymore and I noticed today that those stickers on the floors of grocery stores showing you how to stay six feet apart in checkout lines have disappeared as well. About 25% of the people you see still wear masks. I suspect that some people will continue wearing them forever. I still carry a mask in my back pocket because it hasn't really sunk in that this is over yet.

It was too hot to walk today, but the gym was closed and I felt compelled to get my steps. I soaked my clothes and hat in water, thinking that this would keep me cool during the walk. The plan actually worked pretty well, but my clothes were dry again around the halfway point. The skies were partly cloudy though, so the sun was under a cloud a lot. I guess I'll do the same thing tomorrow since the gym still isn't open on Sundays either. I wonder how long it will take them to get back to pre-covid operations? Maybe they're aiming for September as well.

I picked up a pizza for dinner tonight. I love pizza, but it is number one of the list of foods that give me heartburn. I'm already regretting eating the pizza. You'd think I'd just quit eating problem foods. You'd think I'd stop shopping on busy Saturday's as well. I'm a creature of habit and I keep doing the same things over and over again. Some of the things like long walks are good. Other things like pizza are not so good. Janet is trying to convince me to take my own car out to the observatory this Fall, but I'll probably just keep renting cars. Rental cars have gotten to be a habit as well. I'm superstitious that my car will break down in the middle of nowhere, so I just don't drive it out of town. Don't ask. It all makes sense to me.

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4117

Dawn surprised us today. At the corner where she normally turns right and begins to head back home, she turned left instead. She seemed happy and eager to follow a new path today. We still didn't walk all that far, but it was encouraging to see her try something new. While Janet was out earlier in the day I sat outside with her for about 15 minutes. She was very relaxed and came over and sat with me several times. We're still having problems in the kitchen though. Dawn seems to have some very bad memories associated with feeding and food. That's really a shame, because she loves to eat. Building trust with this dog is going to take a very long time.

I had to go to the bank today and I'm beginning to wonder if they are ever going to reopen the lobby. I've been making transactions using the drive through window for over a year now. I think a lot of businesses have discovered that it's a lot easier to operate in lockdown mode. The bank certainly doesn't have to hire as many people these days. Everything still seems to work, so why would they bother to reopen?

I'm beginning to think I bought the wrong camera. This new camera is a kind of heavy and my old camera seems to work a lot better with the star tracker. The new camera has some amazing features but since most astrophotography is done in full manual mode, I don't even need them. What I really need is a very light camera with a good sensor and long battery life. I still don't have anything that will make my life easier. Most deep sky processing software requires a PC to run. I use a Mac. Canon and Nikon cameras are popular with astrophotographers. I use Panasonic and Olympus cameras. I probably should have just gone on eBay and bought a used Canon DLSR and a cheap PC that would run the software I need. Why don't these guys use a Mac? I've always hated using a PC.

We needed to renew a prescription for Dawn today and discovered that our vet no longer worked at the clinic. Do we move with the vet or stay with the clinic? One more thing to be frustrated about. People in the veterinary business seem to move around like musical chairs. There is a huge turnover. My business used to do a lot of work with veterinarians and not a single one of these old clients is working at the same place anymore. I used to move around a lot when I worked at the ad agencies, but I expected the rest of the world to remain stable. Now, nothing is stable. The whole world reinvents itself every week.

When I went out to the street this morning to retrieve my garbage can, a new neighbor who just moved in crossed the street to introduce himself. When he shook my hand it startled me. I hadn't shaken anyone's hand in over a year. The guy was new in town and was just trying to be friendly. Nevertheless, I washed my hands as soon as I returned to the house. Is it always going to be this way? Maybe. I'm suspicious of everyone now and have no desire to make new friends. Covid changed everything.

It's Easter weekend and the park will be filled with little kids having egg hunts. Not many people use real eggs anymore. They fill plastic eggs with candy instead. The kids leave candy and unfound eggs all over the park. It's a mess. We'll see if Dawn has a nose for candy like Dot and Dash did. I always had to watch Dot and Dash like a hawk in the weeks following Easter because they were always trying to eat the candy.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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