Day 4685

Today was busy. We got up extra early so Dawn could go down to the park and pee before we left for the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. Janet left first so she could help check the golfers in and I left about an hour later to take pictures. This was our first morning tournament. Previously, everyone ate lunch and then there was a shotgun start around 1 PM. Most teams seemed to like this early start better.

It was a beautiful day, although it was quite windy. The wind might have affected the golfer's score but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm. Everyone had a good time. It took me a while to find the teams playing in the tournament. The course was huge and there were jogging trails mixed in with the cart paths. Occasionally I would find myself on a jogging trail and wonder why I wasn't seeing any golfers. After circling the course several times in my cart, I eventually found everyone for their team pictures.

Most of the people who adopted the litter of puppies we had back in April came to the tournament. I was amazed at how quickly the puppies had grown. They all looked like adult dogs now. All Sammy's puppies looked fabulous. This was an exceptionally good looking litter. I enjoyed getting a chance to see the dogs again, and the dogs seemed to enjoy seeing their brothers and sisters. Lots of other people brought their dogs as well, but we didn't take Dawn to the tournament. She wouldn't have made it this far in the car. It's a shame that she is still terrified of car rides, but she seemed happy enough to take a long nap on the bed while we were gone.

My knees are terrible now. Every time I got down on my knees to get a better angle, I had trouble getting back up again. I think I took some decent pictures, but some of the people took even better pictures using their phones. Smart phones have come a long way since we started doing these golf tournaments. The annual golf tournament is still Dalmatian Rescue's biggest fundraiser of the year. We've had more golfers in previous years, but I think we still did pretty well. 

After finishing my photo duties, I drove home again so I could feed Dawn and let her out to pee. She actually seemed glad to see me this time. I'm usually around the house and this was a long time for her to be alone. After Dawn finished her lunch, I left to do my grocery shopping. There was no time for a long walk today, but I got plenty of steps walking around the golf course. 

As usual I had trouble finding certain items. I think selective scarcity is just a fact of life now. Rising prices are definitely a fact of life. I ran into an old ad agency buddy while I was at the grocery store. We hadn't seen each other in over five years and were both old men now. We traded stories about surviving the  Covid years and wondered about the future of the ad biz. A lot has changed. I think we were both glad we spent our working years during advertising's golden age. I had a lot more fun working during the 70's than I do facing retirement while I'm in my 70's.

Dawn was glad to see that life had returned to normal after Janet returned to the house later in the day. We had a light dinner and got ready to start over again tomorrow. I'll probably go mall walking again and then we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. It was nice to have a change of pace today. I'm not a very sociable person, but I enjoyed going to the tournament. Hopefully my knees will still function when we do this again next year.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2154

This was the last day before they start digging a tunnel under our house, so there was lots to do. The day started normally enough. We got up early, cleaned up a small mess Dot had made and then took both dogs on their morning walk. It was surprisingly cold this morning. The temperature was in the low forties. For the first time in ages the outside humidity was in the low forties too, so we could finally open up the doors and windows and air out the house without worrying about raising the humidity again. We didn't even attempt to cook breakfast at home this morning and went to a nearby restaurant instead. This was a restaurant I'd been meaning to try, so I was curious about the food. The Eggs Benedict I ordered was good, but I still like my regular restaurant better.

I'm wondering if we'll have to go to the laundromat every day. Janet did a big load of dog blankets yesterday and there are more soiled blankets today. We had to go buy more water too. We forgot and used the wrong toilet in the middle of the night and had to refill it with 6 gallons of water instead of the 1.5 gallons that the more modern toilet uses. It's a learning process. Janet wants to buy one of those big dehumidifier machines now. The house really feels better now that it isn't humid anymore. The machines not only sucked out the moisture related to the plumbing leak, they continued to suck trapped moisture out of the brick walls, the rugs and even the clothes in our closets.

The big job today was providing an entrance for the tunnel diggers. They are planning to access the broken underground pipe through an interior atrium garden that is enclosed on three sides by the house, with a screened porch as a fourth wall facing the back yard. There are several panels to the large screened-in wall, so I decided to remove one of the screens. The 60 year old nails holding the trim in place seemed fused to the partially rotted wood. The nails had all rusted and were hard to remove without breaking the trim in several pieces. I was eventually able to remove the screen wire and might even be able to re-use it later. I cracked one of the wooden trim pieces than hid the exposed edges of the screen wire. All in all, the job was a success. I didn't totally destroy anything.

After I had created a passageway so the tunnel diggers could remove the dirt they were excavating, it occurred to me that Dash will want to investigate this new opening in the atrium and would probably jump in the hole and wind up getting stuck under the house. I went back to the storage warehouse and got some plastic fencing that we used as temporary kennels at rescue events. I turned this dog pen into a makeshift gate that will keep Dash out of the atrium while the tunnel crew is digging the hole.

It's nice having the hotel as a place where we can take refuge when necessary. When I finished taking apart the atrium this afternoon, I drove over to the hotel to clean up and take a shower. This is a nice hotel and I always look like hell when I arrive. I usually look much more presentable when I leave a few hours later. The shower in the hotel is really nice. The tile grout is sparkling white. The water is nice and hot. There's even a clever, invisible anti-slip surface so you won't fall and bust your butt. I guess we could have a shower like this too if we just ripped out the old one and put in something new.

When I was working outside this morning, it occurred to me that the weather was absolutely perfect. The sky was clear, the temperature was 68 degrees with very low humidity. There wasn't even any pollen in the air today. I was enjoying the clean, fresh air and then I began to smell wood smoke. Yup. That time of year again. When the temperature dips below 80 degrees, Texans start lighting fires in their fireplaces. I attribute this odd behavior to non-stop Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, but it could be anything.

My last job for the day is to cover up a large picture window in the hallway with brown wrapping paper. I have this theory that if Dot can't see the workers tomorrow, she won't bark at them. We'll see how that goes.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day