Day 3830 - My Birthday

Another trip around the sun. I guess I'm doing pretty well for 72. My Dad already had Parkinson's and Macular Degeneration at this age and my Mom didn't even make it this far. Janet and I do our best to stay healthy, but when you are over seventy, every extra year is a gift. I figure that I've got a good ten years left before I start to fall apart, but you never know. Not all of us are destined to be Betty White.

We went out for a birthday dinner at our favorite restaurant this evening. With all the controversy about whether Texas has reopened too soon, I didn't know what to expect. We were both pleasantly surprised and felt completely safe. The tables were spaced far apart, the staff all wore masks, and everyone was super nice. Our waiter even recognized me and said that it was nice to see us again. I always enjoy dining at Knife and was glad we didn't decide to stay home.

The restaurant wasn't crowded. Everyone was responsible. You could tell that the entire staff was trying hard to make this work. Too bad everyone doesn't seem to be able to reopen this way. It's crazy out there. Some stores are still completely closed. Others have you order online and then they bring your merchandise out to your car. A few stores are just pretending like none of this ever happened. I find this inconsistency confusing. Clearly we can't keep the entire country quarantined forever, but it is equally obvious that the virus isn't going away. Texas is having a big spike in new cases at the same time the state is trying to reopen.

Everyone was really pretty good about staying quarantined for several months, but it feels like everyone has had enough. "We did our part," you can almost hear people saying. Now they expect the virus to go away. I'm going to continue to stay away from people. I've never liked crowds anyway. I think that as long as you avoid public transportation, bars, sporting events, concerts, weddings, church services, and other situations where people are crowded together you are probably OK. I might even go ahead and get a haircut. When Janet went to the salon last week, she said that everyone was so careful and that they only let a few customers in at a time.

When we came home from the restaurant the skies were clear and now we are under a severe weather warning. Texas weather is always full of surprises. I hope we don't lose power. The wind is blowing pretty hard outside. It is always a pain when we lose power right in the middle of a blog post. I've got to get all the emergency power devices working and then start over again using the laptop.  Hopefully that won't happen. I don't have that much more to say anyway.

Thanks for all the birthday greetings. Checking to see who sent you a birthday message on Facebook has become a ritual part of almost everyone's birthday these days. Did Facebook always send out birthday notices? I can't even remember when this started. Nobody sends birthday cards anymore except my sister who refuses to use the Internet. I wonder if people have started having birthday parties again? During the lockdown, people in our neighborhood would put up birthday signs in their front yards and drivers would honk when they drove by.

It is a little weird to be 72. Most of my NASA and astronomy friends are half my age. I don't feel old at all. Hopefully I'll feel as healthy when I turn 73 as I do now. I'm not doing anything special, but I can tell you for a fact that lots of exercise and a healthy diet work wonders.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2303

Why is it so hard to find a birthday card? I had to get a card today, so I stopped at the Hallmark store on the way home from the post office. As always, none of the thousands of cards in the store seemed remotely appropriate. The humorous cards didn't seem funny. The emotional cards expressed the wrong emotion. I found one card that had the kind of picture I was looking for, but the message said Happy Birthday from your Grandmother. These cards all must be designed for a reason, so maybe I'm just not their target audience. After spending way too much time looking at cards I hated, I did what I always do. I got a blank card with a picture of a dog on the front.

I followed the landscapers instructions and watered the new grass for several hours this morning. Maybe this is why the grass always dies. If I water enough to get a root system established, the yard is a soggy mess and I'm constantly having to clean the dogs paws every time they go outside. If I don't water enough, the grass never has a chance. If I'm lucky, the Spring rainy season isn't quite over yet, and I won't have to worry about watering schedules at all. That's what happened last year. We had weeks and weeks of rain right after the grass was installed and although I hated the rain just as much as I usually do, the grass looked great.

I just noticed a new feature on my Apple Watch.  When you are using the maps app, you can quickly find nearby restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores and gas stations with a tap of your finger and then get turn-by-turn directions to the place from wherever you happen to be. This would be real handy if I ever left the neighborhood. As it is, I already know where all these places are. I'm not sure how useful turn-by-turn directions are on a tiny one inch square map, but you never know.  If I can't figure out where to go for breakfast this Friday, I'll ask the watch.

I'm getting tired of all these presidential primaries. There was another one tonight. Can't we just go ahead and have the election now and get this over with? I can't get very excited about anyone. I saw a yard sign the other day that said "Everybody Sucks 2016." Maybe I'll get one of those signs. It pretty well sums up my sentiment.

I noticed that Dot only has three more Palladia pills left when I gave her the chemotherapy meds this evening. So far, she's handling the pills pretty well. There are days when it even seems like she's getting stronger. It's probably just an illusion though. I wouldn't be surprised if Dot's staying the same and I'm getting weaker. After she takes the remaining Palladia pills, we'll do another ultrasound scan and see whether the tumor is getting smaller. As long as it isn't getting much bigger, we're OK.

I got an e-mail from B&H today notifying me that a camera I've had my eye on for some time is on sale. Hmm. I definitely don't need another camera. I can't even afford another camera. Why am I even thinking about this? I'm always seeing these memes on Facebook saying that memories and experiences are far more important than stuff. I don't believe them. Maybe dogs are more important than cameras, but for the most part, stuff still does it for me.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1647 - My Birthday

I received hundreds of birthday greetings on social media today. At most, I'd met less than ten of these people in real life. I tried to think if I'd seen any of them during the past year and could only come up with a single name: a guy I accidentally bumped into a few months ago at a guitar show. That's the way it is these days. Facebook has become the new neighborhood. Real life is kind of a wasteland. I was delighted to hear from everybody, whether I'd met them of not. Among the strangers who wished me a happy birthday were dedicated people all over the world who do their best to rescue and care for abandoned Dalmatians. There were fellow bloggers, who just like me, continue to tell their stories to a world where fewer and fewer people read. There were people who like wristwatches and probably a few like you, who just like to read this blog. I'm glad I heard from all of you. You keep me connected.

I got an e-mail early this morning from a neighbor up the street, asking me if I knew anyone who had lost a Weimaraner puppy. I haven't seen anyone walking a Weimaraner in the park for a long time, but I sent the lady all the information I had about reuniting lost dogs with their owners. If you find a lost dog without any identification, I hope you check to see if it has been microchipped first. If the dog has been chipped, this is definitely the easiest way to find the owner. When I left to go to the gym later in the day, I happened to see a "Lost Puppy" sign stapled to a telephone pole. I stopped the car and went over to look at the sign. Sure enough, the lost dog was a Weimaraner puppy that matched the description in the e-mail exactly. I called the number on the sign and left a message saying that I thought I knew where the puppy was. When the dog's owner called back a few hours later, she said the puppy had already been found and returned. Evidently there were lots of "Lost Puppy" signs and one of them had been seen by a friend of the lady who'd sent me the e-mail. My neighbors might not agree about politics, or even about what goes on in the park, but they do agree about dogs. I'm lucky to live in a very dog friendly neighborhood.

I didn't stay at the gym very long today. The gym was crowded and Dot had already made me feel guilty for leaving by barking up a storm as I was preparing to leave. I was also worried about the lost dog and wanted to check and see if the dog and its owner had been reunited. There was nothing to worry about. Dot was sleeping soundly when I returned and the Weimaraner puppy was already home again.

When I was walking the dogs this evening, we almost stepped on a huge snake. I need to get better at identifying these neighborhood snakes. Some are harmless and others are poisonous. It would be good to know which was which. In the mean time, we're going to avoid the shoreline and native prairie areas where most of the snakes seem to live. There are also lots of large hawks and owls in these areas. Maybe they'll eat the snakes.

We had Sprinkles cupcakes when Janet got home from work. These tasty little cupcakes have become somewhat of a birthday tradition. At a certain point we discovered that a big birthday cake was too much for two people.  These large, heavily frosted cakes just took up space in the refrigerator and eventually got stale. Cupcakes are much better.  It was a subdued birthday, but a nice one. I look forward to celebrating a few more.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1283

The road crews were back in front of the house again this morning. This time it was paving machines, re-applying the same sort of asphalt surface they had scraped away a few weeks ago. Is this progress? Sadly, in today's world, I suspect it is. Millions of tax dollars were spent to fix a road that was never broken in the first place. Meanwhile, dozens of nearby side streets are still full of potholes and will probably never be fixed.

In honor of my advancing age, I fell on my butt and sprained my wrist while doing yard work. I was tugging on a large vine, trying to get it out of a tree. When the vine snapped, down I went. Oh, well. Now my right wrist matches the other one I'm always complaining about with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

I got a ton of social media birthday greetings yesterday. Most of them were from people I'd never actually met. At least I had a vague idea who most of the Facebook greetings were from. I didn't have a clue who sent me birthday greetings on Google+. Not only did I fail to recognize the people, in many cases, I didn't even recognize the language the greeting was written in. For the record, I received no greetings at all from actual family members. They probably learned years ago that it just wasn't worth the trouble.

I wasted quite a bit of time today trying to apply online for a legitimate and well-deserved exemption on my real estate taxes. The powers that be couldn't have made the process more difficult if they tried. After I finally assembled and filled out the required forms, I noticed a little note at the bottom of one form that said everything had to be notarized. Why have an online form at all if it has to be notarized? It kind of defeats the whole purpose. I guess I'll finish this task another day.

Dot had very little energy on our morning walk. Even though we started out earlier, while the weather was cooler and there was still a breeze, I could tell she was getting too hot. We turned back well before our usual halfway point and made it home safely, but I'm really starting to worry about the old girl. She still loves to walk, but one of these days, I'm going to have to carry her home. That's not going to end well for either of us.

I've already taken the trash out to the curb for tomorrow's weekly trash pickup and am starting to salivate, thinking about my Friday breakfast outing. Staying on my wheat, sugar, and salt free diet forever is not going to be easy. I can still have meat in moderation though and I'm hungry for meat. I see a tasty, meat filled omelet in my future tomorrow.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1240

I got one of those birthday reminder messages on Facebook this morning. I'm sure you all get them too. The birthday boy used to be my boss many years ago when I worked in the ad agency world. When I went to my friend's page to wish him a happy birthday, I discovered that he had passed away last June. Oops. I'm sure glad I read the page before I left my "have a great day" message. That would have been embarrassing. The whole incident leaves me wondering if any of my other Facebook friends are dead. I know a lot of my Facebook friends are actually Dalmatians, but it never occurred that the human friends might not even be alive.

Dot did great at her acupuncture session today. She seems much more relaxed now that she is getting used to the routine. The only thing that seemed to upset her today was the vet's cat. When the cat wandered into the room, Dot curled up her lip and started to growl. The vet laughed and told Dot not to mess with the cat, because the cat would probably win. I was a little embarrassed by Dot's behavior and explained to the vet that this was why we don't have a cat. As least Dash wasn't there. Dash would have gone nuts with a cat in the house.

My seasonal allergies have returned with a vengeance. I was sneezing and blowing my nose so much at dog training class tonight that I became more of a distraction to the class than Dash's incessant barking. The dogs both did well in class this evening. I think all the dogs are doing better, now that the weather is warmer and sunlight has returned. I need to remember that there is no need for a warm coat anymore. I was a little out of place in my winter jacket tonight.

I managed to get caught up with all my writing assignments this afternoon, so I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorow. I'm long overdue for a haircut, but nobody sees me anymore, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Maybe I'll stop by the Apple Store on the way home. I always stop by the Apple Store after a haircut. I certainly don't need anything. It's just a habit.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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