Day 3818

Today was futile task day. I tried and failed to fix a security light in the driveway. I think I discovered the problem though. Wasps had built a nest inside the motion sensor. I managed to kill the wasps, but the bug spray probably didn't do what remained of the sensor any good. I thought I'd get rid of a few more wasp nests while I was outside, but they build them back so fast that I don't know why I even bothered.

My big task for the day was cleaning the atrium. I managed to pry open the broken sliding glass door just wide enough for me to squeeze inside with a broom and a bottle of Windex. I tried to lubricate the door tracks with a silicon spray designed for balky garage doors, but it didn't do much good. One, or perhaps several, of the track wheels have broken and jam when you try to move the door. The atrium does look better now. It's just impossible to use as it was intended. I probably won't try to open the door again for another six months. I'm always afraid it will become permanently jammed in an open position. Since there appears to be nobody in creation who is able to fix this oversize sliding glass door, this would be very bad.

We figured out that we would have to leave at 5 AM to beat the morning runners and cyclists on our walk with Dawn. That would get us home at 7 AM when the morning rush usually starts. We left at 6 AM this morning and the trails were quiet for a while. The tranquility didn't last though. By the time we returned home the park was packed. The good thing about these early walks is that the weather is still cool enough for Dawn. She did well today and we felt good about completing our full five miles.

I still take an afternoon walk, although I don't really know why. It is very hot and there are far to many people in the park. I still keep my distance from these people, but clearly nobody cares about social distancing anymore. There are large groups having picnics and crowds routinely gather around the ice cream truck and the kayak rental stand. After all the mass protests, I think it will be impossible to institute another lockdown if there is a second wave of virus infections. Everyone has moved on and they just don't care about the virus anymore. Very odd, since infections are still increasing in Texas.

It's time to mow the grass again but I just could bring myself to start the mower. The house feels like an old friend who has let me down. Everything is shabby and falling apart. It's hard to get excited about yard work and even harder to get excited about major renovations. We live in a neighborhood where virtually all the small houses like ours are eventually torn down to build McMansions when they are sold. It seems crazy to put a lot of money into a house that will just be torn down.

I saw the International Space Station for a final time this evening. I worked up my nerve to walk to a good viewing spot in the park with a pair of binoculars. It was a good thing that I brought the binoculars because the station was fairly dim this time. The sky was clear, but it was much further away. The first time I saw it on Thursday evening was definitely the best.

Maybe I'll try to contact Sky and Telescope and the Air Force media office tomorrow. I've been very patient. It's about time I heard something from these guys.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3135

As expected, Dash is a handful. So much of his care is a team effort these days. The day started out normally enough since Janet didn't leave for the airport until after Dash had taken his morning meds and finished his sunrise walk. It was only after Dash discovered that his friend wasn't coming home from work at the regular time that things became more complicated.

Dash lives according to a very rigid schedule. He usually finishes his dinner while Janet is eating hers. Since he couldn't do this tonight, a large part of his dinner is still untouched. I did get him to take his evening meds, but it required putting the pills in a little ball of white angel food cake and then coating the whole thing with peanut butter. To be fair, Janet often has to do this too. It just isn't easy to get the little guy to take his meds.

I thought a short evening walk might get his appetite going. After struggling to get his protective gear on by myself, he refused to leave the house. This wasn't entirely surprising either. He's gotten in the habit of wanting someone to follow on his walks. Either Janet or I will walk ahead and the other person will hold the leash. This usually works pretty well. It might have just been too hot this afternoon, but we walked yesterday at this same temperature without any problems. Hopefully, Dash will finish his dinner later this evening. I'm trying to keep an eye on him, but there's a good chance that he'll poop in the house while I'm finishing tonight's blog post.

I got a call from the computer repair shop saying that the battery I'd ordered had arrived, so I took Janet's laptop in to get it installed. I hope this little repair shop does well. It's not too far from the house and the staff are friendly and knowledgable. Unlike the Apple Store, these guys are actually interested in keeping my older computers running. While the battery was being installed, I went next door to a hiking and camping store and looked at overpriced gear. I happened to see a new brand of dog boots that actually looked quite sturdy. I would have bought some, but I couldn't remember Dash's shoe size. I'll have to measure his paws again.

When I was taking Dash out for one of his middle of the night bathroom breaks last night, I noticed how bright Mars had become. The planet is close to opposition now and is making its closest approach to Earth in fifteen years. I went back in the house, got my binoculars, and was amazed to see a red disc about the size of Jupiter. I've never seen Mars this large before. Sometimes you can't see a disc at all. It might be worth actually setting up the telescope for this. The only problem is that the only time I can get a clear view of the planet through the thick tree canopy in the back yard is about 3 AM. Personally, I'd rather sleep at this hour, but Dash will probably get me up anyway.

The UPS guy delivered the new printer ink this evening. There's no point in installing the cartridges yet. I don't have anything to print. I think I could put my time to better use looking for the telescope. Where did I put that thing?

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2854

I am becoming increasingly disorganized. Part of my brain has already retired. Another part is still trying to keep track of deadlines and responsibilities. I kept forgetting today that I had an article to write and several websites to update. The jobs were minor and inconsequential, but they were still real jobs. Back in the day, I would have had these tasks finished before noon. They still aren't finished.

I kept forgetting I had work to do because I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get Dash to walk. I was unsuccessful again. Our boy just doesn't want to walk in the morning anymore. Later in the week, Janet has a light day, so we are going to experiment and see if he'll take an early walk with both of us. He still walks fine in the evening, so maybe he's just being stubborn.

I woke up early this morning because I was cold and then remembered that I had wanted to see the conjunction of Mars, the Moon, and Venus. I took a pair of binoculars outside and easily spotted all three. Mars is very faint because it is on the other side of the solar system. It won't be close to Earth again until next summer. After accounting for the visible planets in the morning sky, I went back to bed. Astronomy is appealing, but not quite as appealing as sleep.

If I ever invited you to connect on Alignable, I apologize. I initially thought that this might be a cool way to network and get business, but it just seems to connect me to nail salons and real estate agents. I'm getting so much spammy mail from these folks now that I'm thinking of deactivating my account. I should have known better. I never liked LinkedIn, so it should have been a no-brainer that I wouldn't like this either.

With Dash refusing to walk, I'm not getting as many steps in during the day as I'd like. It was easy to take over 12,000 steps a day when we took two walks in the park. Now my total is much less. Without these daily walks, there aren't as many photos either. I miss these long morning walks, but strangely I don't feel like walking without a dog. I've walked with a dog companion at my side for so many years that it just doesn't seem right to walk alone.

I guess I'll finish my article tomorrow. There isn't a deadline, but writing will give me something to do during the day. I don't think there's much of a chance that the refrigerator repairman will be coming over tomorrow. Chances of the roofer coming over are even less.

We'll see how tomorrow goes. Dash is eating well now and seems to be happy enough just spending his day doing nothing. I wish I could say the same.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2653 - Vernal Equinox

Dot threw up today right after the took her afternoon pain medication. Dogs throw up for hundreds of different reasons, but it always makes me uneasy when a dog with cancer starts vomiting. Sometimes Dot throws up simply because she drinks too much water. I didn't want to accidentally overdose her, so I didn't give her any additional Gabapentin. I watched her for the rest of the afternoon and by dinnertime she seemed back to normal. When Dot threw up on her bed, I'd just finished washing all the rugs she peed on this morning. The washing machine got a lot of use today.

I'm such a creature of habit. Even though I've almost convinced myself that it would be smart to start using electronic payments, I took another batch of bills to the post office this afternoon, just like I always do. Old habits die hard. I guess I just like going to the post office. On the way home I stopped by the vet and picked up some more phenobarbital for Dash. The dogs take so many meds now that it's going to take a spreadsheet to keep track of them soon.

I'm trying to spend a little time every clear night looking at the stars. It's a bit of an uphill battle. I found a little meadow in the park with a clear view of the sky. It's near the house and there aren't a lot of streetlamps or car headlights to spoil the view. The only problem is that all the neighborhood dogs sense me standing in the meadow and start barking at me. When one dog starts barking, pretty soon they all start barking. I looked for the Andromeda Galaxy tonight. I should have started looking last winter when it was higher in the sky. This thing is big enough and bright enough that it should have been easy to see with binoculars. I couldn't find it though. Like many other things, it was lost in the haze and glow of city lights that obscures everything near the horizon.

It actually did seem like the first day of Spring today. The weather was beautiful. I waited until sunset to walk Dot and she seemed to enjoy herself, even though she had thrown up earlier in the day. I wish Dot wasn't so frail, but we do the best we can. Even though Dot's appetite is still good, she is having trouble chewing certain things. She won't eat rice cakes anymore, even though she used to love them. Slices of banana sometimes fall out of her mouth. I don't know why she has trouble chewing a banana. Luckily, she's still fine with the Hills ID that has become her regular diet. Slowly all her favorite things are becoming more difficult. The dog that used to run like the wind now moves at a snail's pace. She's becoming finicky about what she eats and can no longer control her bladder. The scary thing is this is my future too. It's hell growing old.

I still haven't called the landscaper. I'm not even sure it's worth replacing all the Asian Jasmin and Liriope I've trampled taking Dot out to pee. As long as I'm walking behind Dot, holding up her rear legs, I'm going to continue to trample the ground cover. The yard looks terrible though. I need to do something.

I thought today was going to be uneventful. I guess it was. Dot gave me a little scare, but she's fine now. I cleaned four large rugs today, although it was far from a record. I think I've cleaned seven in one day once. The house shoes I use to take Dot outside tore apart at the seams, so I glued them back together to avoid the hassle of looking for another pair at a shoe store. Tomorrow I'll get up early and try to get Dot outside before she pees all over the place. I'll make my morning smoothie and put it in the freezer for a while so it's nice and cold. Eventually, I'll open my e-mail and hope to find an exciting new project to work on. There won't be any work, but there will be lots of spam. If I'm lucky, Dot won't throw up.

Baxter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2652

Maybe I should start shopping on Sunday. There were no blueberries yesterday, so I went back to look for some this morning. The entire produce section had been restocked and everything looked much fresher. I got the blueberries I wanted and kind of wished that I'd waited until today to get the strawberries too.

I mowed the lawn for the first time in 2017. Like it or not, Summer is on its way. Every time I get the lawn mower out for a new season of cutting the grass, it seems heavier and more cumbersome than the year before. I wonder how many more years I can continue doing this. Eventually, I'll probably have to start using a lawn service like everyone else in the neighborhood. If the yard was flat it wouldn't be a bit deal. The hills are starting to be a problem. I've grown to hate pushing the mower up the hill in the front yard.

When I walked Dash this morning I saw the coyote again. I was surprised that the coyote was out in the open so late in the day. We got a late start this morning and I didn't walk Dash until after 9 AM. Several neighbors say they've seen two coyotes together. This probably means there is a den and cubs nearby. I probably should worry more about snakes than the coyotes. It is getting warm enough that the snakes are starting to emerge as well. I've learned to avoid the areas where snakes are abundant, but the coyote seems to like the same part of the park that Dash does. We see it frequently now.

This was another day when I was already tired before I even made it to the gym. I went anyway though. If I only went to the gym when I was feeling fresh and energetic, I'd probably never go at all. Since it was a nice Spring day, the gym was virtually empty. I like it this way, because there is seldom anyone using the basketball court. Midway through my workout it occurred to me that I might have left a gate open when I took the lawn mower back to the greenhouse. I always worry about the accidental open gate, because it wouldn't take Dash long to discover it. I called Janet and I guess I secured the gate after all. My memory is really getting bad.

We decided to walk Dot at sunset today, so she wouldn't get so hot. This worked out well. She actually seemed to have more energy than I thought she would. I guess sunset walks are going to be our new routine as the weather continues to grow warmer. This isn't the most convenient time of day for me, but it's easy enough to rearrange my schedule. I wonder why I even bother with a schedule anymore. It's become pretty clear that it doesn't really matter when I do things, or even if I do things.

I had to get up early this morning to take Dot out to pee. The sky was still dark, so after I took Dot back to her bed, I went outside again and looked at the stars. I enjoy stargazing, although it sure would be nice if the sky over our yard wasn't a solid canopy of trees. Despite the partially obscured view, I spotted Saturn to the left of the moon and Jupiter low on the western horizon. I could easily see four of Jupiter's moons through the binoculars, but I had trouble seeing Saturn's rings. Maybe sometime soon I'll have the time and energy to get the telescope out. I could easily see Saturn's rings through the telescope.

The only thing on my plate next week is a trip to the dentist. I'm not looking forward to that.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2640

Every time I write a letter I keep thinking that if everybody would just read the blog, there would be no need to keep in touch. It's all here really. Despite the duplicate narrative, I still write my sister. We haven't seen each other or spoken on the phone in decades, but the occasional letter still reminds us that we are family. I used to be a lot better at letter writing before the Internet made me lazy. There was a long list of people I corresponded with and I even dabbled in mail art for a while. That's all gone now. The only person I write is my sister and my one page, single spaced messages are basically just a personalized blog post. Today's letter was very similar to yesterday's blog entry with a little extra information about the dogs. I really should pay more attention to friends and family, but like I say, it's all here if they're interested.

Dot's left rear leg continues to get weaker. If I don't guide her, she just walks around in circles now. I take a break and sit in the grass with her before we return from our short afternoon walks. The weather is nice and she likes the breeze and the fresh air. The rest is necessary because she tires so easily now. It's sad to watch this slow decline. We've been doing this dance of diminishing returns for over two years now. The deterioration is so slow that we continue to adapt and after a while it just seems normal. I dread the day when the cancer finally overtakes her. The oncologist says we've still got a while, but when her liver begins to fail the end will come quickly.

These days go so slowly now. It takes me about an hour to drink my smoothie in the morning. The concoction, filled with raw eggs, oatmeal, fresh strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and ice cream is least a quart in size and is typically my main meal of the day. There's no hurry. I sip the huge smoothie while drinking two cups of strong coffee as I watch the morning news. I channel hop between liberal and conservative stations until I am sufficiently discouraged and then I watch old Dr. Who reruns. Usually Dash is right there with me, barking for slices of banana.

Usually after breakfast there is time for one serious work related task. One job a day is all I feel like doing these days anyway. I let the dogs sleep as long as they want in the morning because they never sleep in the afternoon. I have to get Dot up at 2 PM to give her some meds and from that point on, it's a three ring circus. To keep the dogs engaged, I have split their dinner into two parts, separated by Dot's afternoon walk. It takes almost 45 minutes to walk Dot to the end of the street where she can enjoy sitting in the park for a while. When I return, we do part two of dinner and then I take Dash for his afternoon walk. This works pretty well, because Dot is usually tired at this point and will sleep while we are away. When she relaxes and goes to sleep, Dot often poops. At least 30% of the time, there is poop to clean up when I return with Dash.

The sky was clear tonight so I did a little exploring with the new binoculars. Binoculars are great for deep sky objects. The Orion Nebula looked spectacular, but the moon was too bright to see some of the other deep sky objects I was looking for. A lot of things are out of reach as long as I live in Dallas. There is way too much light pollution in the night sky. I don't think I've ever seen the Milky Way inside the city limits of Dallas. Light pollution or not, the binoculars are a good diversion. There is a lot to see in the night sky.

I suspect that tomorrow will be a lot like today. That's OK though. The dogs will make sure that I don't become complacent.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2636

This morning's breakfast was a gut buster. I actually did go someplace new and ordered something called Early Bird Enchiladas. The meal was served in one of those flimsy tinfoil pie pans like you get when you buy a grocery store pie. The Enchiladas were filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, spicy pork, jalapenos, and cheese; all covered with Rotel Queso Dip. Jeez, I don't think I've had Rotel Dip since college. I didn't take a picture of the meal because it looked atrocious, but it tasted amazing. I'd go back again next week if it weren't for the fact that I'm probably going to have heartburn for a month.

There was a different crowd at this place. No hipsters with ironic beards here. When I arrived, the place was filled with men wearing well worn ball caps and work boots. They were already finishing their meals when I ordered and the place was practically empty when I left. Unlike the hipsters at last week's restaurant, these guys had work to do.

I had work to do as well. When I got home and made sure the dogs were OK, I began writing my next article. I had a vague feeling that I'd already written this piece, but it's hard to tell. I've written hundreds of articles for this client. The article took longer than I thought, because every time I started making progress, Dot needed to go outside to pee.

I wish there was something I could do that would help Dot regain her strength. I've tried almost everything and nothing seems to work. Nerve damage is insidious. It's slow, but completely relentless. On a day-to-day basis Dot seems pretty stable. You only notice the deterioration over a long period of time. Dot is definitely slower and less coordinated than she was at Christmas. She's a lot worse than she was a year ago. Dot's neurologist and every vet we've talked to says there isn't a lot we can do. Nerves regrow extremely slowly even when you are completely healthy. I try to keep Dot moving so she won't become paralyzed and do my best to manage any pain she might be experiencing. I'm sure that Dot wishes she could run and jump like she used to, but amazingly she's still a happy girl. If Dot can remain happy with all her infirmities, I ought to be able to do the same. It's not easy. I think Dot lives in the moment a lot better than I do.

I didn't get around to submitting my article today. I'm sure it's still full of typos and awkward syntax. I'll take another look tomorrow morning. Today just got away from me. The dogs kept me so busy today that I'm actually amazed that I made any progress at all.

I'd like to sleep in tomorrow morning, but I'd also like to get Dot outside before she pees all over the place. These are the choices you have to make with an incontinent dog. Maybe the skies will clear off this weekend. I'm looking forward to doing a little stargazing with my new binoculars.

Maggie 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 2183

We're making progress. Our broadband service was finally restored today and the humidity in the house is down to 38%. When the technician called to tell me that everything had been fixed, I asked him what the problem was. "We found four separate faults in the fiber line to your house," he told me. "That sounds pretty major," I said. "Was service out for the entire neighborhood?" "No, it was just you," the guy said. It figures. Our house just seems to attract problems.

I stretched the soiled photo backdrop out on a long clothesline this morning and sprayed it with the Nature's Miracle enzyme. It was a nice day, so it didn't take long for the muslin cloth to air out and dry. I think it looks and smells much better, but Dot and Dash beg to differ. They are still real interested in the cloth backdrop when I take them outside. I'll see what Janet thinks. You can't dry clean or wash these hand painted backdrops, because all the paint will come off. I'll clean the backdrop again tomorrow and hopefully by next Saturday it will just be another large, somewhat dirty piece of canvas. I'm hoping for the best. The last thing you want is the smell of pee when you're shooting a long sequence of pet pictures. If one dog has marked the canvas, all the other dogs will want to pee on top of the same spot to claim it. That's just the way dogs are.

Even though our U-Verse service is working again, I'm still tempted to switch to Time Warner. I checked prices today and their top of the line bundle is about 40% less than what we are currently paying right for U-Verse. Cable providers are tricky though. They are masters of bait and switch tactics. You sign up for something and then you notice a few months later that you are paying quite a bit more. None of the cable providers include taxes in their pricing either. It's amazing how many weird and often expensive local and state taxes they can get away with adding to your bill. No wonder so many people are just watching Netflix and Hulu on the Internet. So far, the Internet has managed to escape most of the ridiculous taxes the utilities and telecom providers tack on to your bill.

The evil bird that poops on my car has returned to spend another Winter taunting me. I know it's the same bird every year. I wonder how long birds live? I think that parrots can live 50 years or more, but what about Blue Jays and Cardinals? This bird always poops on my car and never on Janet's. It drives me nuts. I've tried everything to scare the bird away, but nothing seems to work. I really thought rubber snakes would do the trick, but this bird has no fear of snakes. It even pooped on one of the rubber snakes yesterday.

I thought I might be able to see Comet Catalina this morning, since it is currently located very near the Moon and Venus in the pre-dawn sky. It turns out that the comet was fainter than expected though, and I wasn't able to find it with binoculars. I'll try again tomorrow morning, but I suspect that the glare from cars and streetlights will pretty well mask the faint sixth magnitude object.

Work continues to be slow this month. Maybe this is the new normal. I certainly hope not.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2126

I got up early without waking Janet and the dogs and quietly went outside with my Dad's old Carl Zeiss binoculars to look for Mercury. This was the perfect day to look for the illusive planet, because it was located right next to the thin crescent of the waning moon. The pre-dawn sky was clear and I was able to find the almost impossibly thin sliver of the moon about five degrees above the horizon. Sure enough, when I looked though the binoculars, there was Mercury, right where it was supposed to be. It was a nice way to start the day.

When I was at the gym later in the day, a loud announcement came over the PA system saying DISASTER - CODE WHITE IS NOW IN EFFECT. This message was repeated several times, but nobody paid any attention to it.  I think the message referred to a pediatric medical emergency, but it could just as easily have signaled the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. The odd thing to me was although the message was clearly a warning of some sort, nobody seemed to care. Eventually one old man asked if we should leave the building, but the people using the machines next to him just shrugged their shoulders and continued listening to whatever was being piped through their earbuds. Maybe this is why we end up being surprised so frequently. Nobody listens to warnings anymore.

Maybe I should replace my Watch of the Day feature with a Things That Broke Today feature. Yesterday two tape recorders bit the dust. Today it was a watch winder. I suspect that aging rubber parts contributed to today's mishap as well. Watch winders are simple mechanisms. They use a rotating drum to keep a self winding mechanical watch wound up and running while it is not on your wrist. This particular watch winder had been running continuously for over five years, but today a red fault light was illuminated and the motor wasn't turning. I wouldn't be surprised if a rubber drive belt was used to transfer the motion of the electric motor to the rotating drum that holds the watch. Rubber drive belts break easily. I wonder who repairs these things. One more thing to research tomorrow on Google.

I could make a long list of things that are on the verge of breaking. A large sliding glass door in our house is becoming very hard to open. I've already replaced the original nylon track rollers with solid steel rollers that were supposed to last forever. I guess in today's world, forever means seventeen years. The electric lawn mower makes a loud whining noise then I mow the grass now. Sounds like a bearing is starting to go out. The garbage disposal under the kitchen sink clogs a bit too easily and there is a section of the bedroom carpet that is looking really threadbare. Actually, probably everything in the house is on the verge of breaking.

Dash had a good day. He limped a little, but not nearly as bed as he did yesterday. He rested a lot today and we made sure that when he was active that he didn't race around at full speed and aggravate his injury. It's hard to tell a Dalmatian to take it easy, but that's what we're trying to do. Dot had a pretty good day too. There were no accidents in the house and she had lots of energy on her walks.

These weeks go by so quickly. When I was using the arm bicycle at the gym, and later when I was using the Dyson to clean rugs at the house, I kept thinking "Didn't I just do this a few minutes ago." Nope, that was last week. The days, and weeks, and months just blend together in a series of repetitive actions. Tomorrow there will be more of the same. I'll pop in the shower. I'll feed the dogs. I'll fix another peach and banana smoothie for breakfast. I doubt that I'll see Mercury again though.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1858

I got a lot done today. I attribute the day's success to seeing the sun again. We had a great walk this morning. It was still chilly outside, but with shadows on the ground and the sun on my face, it all seemed reasonably comfortable. My shoes were still muddy when we returned, but it was no big deal. All is forgiven when there's lots of sunshine. Janet went to breakfast with me for the first time in recent memory. She liked the food, but I don't think she'll become a regular. My go-to meals have too many calories.

I was a little surprised that I've never heard anything further from the new client that was supposedly headed my way. The initial inquiry was from an ad agency, which probably explains everything. Ad agencies are notorious about not following up on things. I probably won't hear from them again until late on a Friday afternoon when they have some kind of rush deadline that will ruin my weekend.

On days like today, I'm not sure how many new clients I could handle anyway. I was almost late for my physical therapy appointment because I had trouble finishing my writing assignments. I got a lot done, but I'll still have to do some additional writing this weekend. When I returned from therapy, I had a big website update to complete. There were 24 new pictures that needed to be resized in Photoshop, plus captions and bios under each picture. Everything was uploaded to the server just in time to begin feeding the dogs their dinner and give Dash his Palladia chemo medication before taking our evening walk.

I'm glad the weekend is here, although Saturday and Sunday aren't much different than any other day when you're freelancing. I like to think of the weekend as a restful time, but I'm not kidding anyone. All my clients know that I'm still here, and if they need something, they're not shy about asking me. The oral surgeon initially wanted to remove my wisdom teeth on a Friday, so I could have the weekend to rest. Rest on weekends? You've got to be kidding. I tried to explain that my office didn't shut down at 2 PM on Friday afternoons, like his did and that weekends were often the busiest days of the week for me. I don't really care when they do the surgery, as long as they do it at 10:30 in the morning. Any earlier and I won't be able to walk the dogs. Any later and I'll get hungry, since I can't eat before surgery.

I had a different therapist today, since my regular therapist had a scheduling conflict. This therapist was stronger and gave my arm some serious tugs. I actually think this approach might be better. My shoulder got this bad in the first place because I was always trying to avoid pain. If the therapist tries too hard to avoid causing pain as well, I probably won't accomplish much. It's a fine line though. Too much discomfort will cause more inflammation and make the whole situation worse. Maybe I just need pain as a yardstick to measure things. I've kind of lost the whole concept of pleasure.

I did manage to find Comet Lovejoy last night. I couldn't see it with the naked eye because of the city lights, but it was fairly easy to spot with binoculars. Right below the Pleiades was a soft luminous smudge that had to be a comet. Either that or my binoculars were dirty.

Selby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day