Day 2734 - My Birthday

The weather surprised me this morning. When I took Dash on his morning walk, we got caught in a downpour. I knew it was going to rain today, but when I looked at the weather radar when we got up, it appeared like there was plenty of time for a walk. The storm wasn't heading directly toward us either, so I thought I was safe. By the time we got home, Dash and I were both soaked. Dash just got a bath yesterday too, but that's the way it goes in life. You've got to be prepared for the unexpected.

I'm getting prepared for my role as Janet's nurse while she recovers from surgery. All I can do at this point is continue cleaning the house. The doctors keep stressing how important it is to avoid an infection. Our house is hardly a clean zone, but it's probably better than the hospital itself. Most people who get infections get them while they are actually in the hospital. Today I scrubbed the shower stall. I learned that soap scum is really hard to remove completely. It seems to get hard as enamel over time. Everything looks a lot better now, although it would have been better to just re-tile the entire bathroom.

Dash seems to be adjusting to our smaller family. He's starting to take normal walks again and now that Dot's exotic food is gone, he's stopped being a picky eater. I'm sure he's still lonely at times, but so am I. The best thing either of us can do is just continue living each day as normally as possible.

Today was certainly normal. It didn't seem like a birthday at all. If it weren't for all the birthday messages on Facebook, I might have forgotten that I am sixty-nine years old. A lot of things about Facebook still irritate me, but I kind of like these birthday messages. It's nice to know that people haven't completely forgotten about you.

We had a little birthday celebration after dinner tonight. Dash and I had a cupcake and Janet had some pineapple slices. Janet's new diet seems remarkably similar to what I was eating while I was being treated for Hepatitis C.  Doctors emphasize eating healthy almost as much as they emphasize avoiding infections. I lost a lot of weight while I was avoiding sugar like the plague. I had to give up bread as well, because it almost immediately converts to glucose in your body. I maintained the spartan diet for over two years, but I'm eating pancakes and desserts again. I'm still not sure whether cutting out sugar actually made me any healthier.

You'd think that each additional year would make me a little wiser, but I'm not feeling very wise tonight. I'm humbled by how much there is that I still don't know. I guess the goal now is to keep learning more than I forget. It's going to be an uphill battle because my mind is like a sieve. There are hundreds of books that line the walls of my office and I've already forgotten what's inside most of them. I guess I could re-read everything, but I probably won't. I'll definitely keep writing though. Reading is good, but writing is even better.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2449

Sunday is when we try to restore some sense of order the the shambles that has taken over our house. Janet took up all Dot's traction rugs and scrubbed the floors while I mowed the grass and later tried to remove all the spider webs and insect debris from the back windows. It's a never ending battle to get rid of the spiders and frankly I think they have the upper hand. I had to take an abrasive brush and a bucket of bleach to remove all their droppings from the window sills. The worst part of removing the spiders is that the spiders don't like it and they end up crawling all over you. I guess our efforts were worth it. The house does look and smell better now. It's a temporary victory though. Nature always wins in the long run.

Although I got plenty of exercise doing housework, I went to the gym anyway. Some things you have to do whether you like it or not. The first twenty minutes I'm at the gym, I'm always on the verge of quitting and going home early. When the initial aches and pains have subsided, I get into a rhythm and realize that it's not that big a deal to go ahead and complete my workout. The most enjoyable part of my routine is shooting baskets on the court. This activity probably doesn't burn up that many calories, but it breaks up the monotony. The last twenty minutes are always the easiest, but there is no sense of euphoria. I never decide to stay longer. An hour and fifteen minutes is long enough.

We felt a little guilty about not giving Dot a proper party yesterday, so I went out and got each dog a skinless, boneless chicken breast and some Pupcakes from Sprinkles. Dot's favorite activity is eating, so I think she enjoyed our little celebration. She eats so slowly now that for the first time ever she didn't devour her cupcake in a single bite. She actually seemed to savor the treat, taking several minutes to consume it.

I need to go renew the lease on my storage warehouse tomorrow. Maybe this will be the year when I finally start to do some serious downsizing. I could start a museum with the stuff in this warehouse. It wouldn't be a very good museum, but there are definitely things you don't see everyday. I also need to take Dot back to the vet to get her blood work done. This was supposed to be done last Friday at the cancer center, but since Dot's oncologist is gone until October, our schedule is completely messed up there now. I'll need to get the tests done at another vet. I think it's going to be a busy week, but it's hard to tell sometimes. The difference between staying busy and doing nothing at all is often arbitrary and a bit fuzzy.

Where did this Summer go? It's almost Labor Day already. It won't be long before I start wondering whether the furnace still works and spend hours clearing bushels of pecans off the roof. I"m looking forward to Fall. Too bad it only lasts about two weeks.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2448 - Dot's Birthday

I feel bad about not doing more for Dot's birthday. We're all getting old and tired. I know Dot is at least 16 years old and may even be 17. It hard to know the exact age of a rescue dog. Usually their birthday is just the day you adopt them.

We used to have elaborate parties for all our dogs, but they seem like distant memories now. The few dog friendly restaurants that remain in town are too far away and I don't think Dot would enjoy being transported in the car anyway. Even if she wanted to go, I don't think we can get two dogs in the same car anymore. Dot needs a lot more room with her injuries and I don't know where we'd put Dash. There used to be two places in town that made beautiful birthday cakes for dogs, but they both went out of business. The cakes were expensive and a lot of people didn't want to pay that much to treat their dog. After trying to make similar cakes myself, I quickly realized that these cakes were a bargain. It's a shame that these businesses didn't succeed. That's all in the past though. Last year, we got them some dog cupcakes at Sprinkles but it wasn't much of a party. They both ate the little cupcakes in about two seconds.

I saw a snake in the back yard this morning, but I wasn't able to catch it before it slithered away. I was trying to lift it up with a stick and toss it over the back fence, but the snake was faster than I was. I didn't want to pick the snake up with my hands, because it looked a lot like a baby copperhead. I don't want to mess with those things. The venom is actually stronger in baby snakes. I don't know why. Hopefully, the snake continued it's journey and is somewhere in the park by now. I definitely don't want Dash to discover it.

We went to a concert tonight because one of Janet's friends was performing. We hear this group almost every year. They are a large a cappella chorus that performs all over the world. When we first started going to these concerts, I wasn't that wild about this barbershop style of singing, but either they've gotten better over the years, or I've grown to appreciate them. The concerts are quite good.

When I used the Scan and Go app at the grocery store today, I noticed that there was a new welcome screen that said "No purchases over $750." I'm never going to buy that many groceries, but I wonder what this message means. Apparently, even though the app has been around less than a month, someone has already figured out a way to scam it. I wish everyone was honest and played by the rules. If everyone were honest, I wouldn't even need passwords on all these apps.

It was really hot today and there were no Summer showers to cool things down. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Winter.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2073

Since it is Janet's birthday today, I did my usual last minute shopping and event planning. I can't say that either of us looks forward to birthdays anymore. We're old enough already. Birthdays are still special though. Each year is another milestone in a long and complicated journey. It's hard to buy gifts for each other anymore. We both have everything we need. Long ago we stopped having birthday cakes. A cake was too big and most of it ended up growing stale in the refrigerator. Now, we each just have a cupcake. Tonight we had a little champagne with our cupcake. I don't drink anymore, but I'm not completely rigid about it. Having a drink on birthdays and holidays is just fine.

It actually did rain today. It rained just enough to get the car dirty when I was out birthday shopping, but not enough to do the yard any good. The rain only lasted about fifteen minutes and by mid-afternoon the ground was bone dry again. There's a chance that we'll get a little more rain early tomorrow morning. That would be nice. A little rain before our morning walk might help cool things down a bit.

Dot seemed to have a burst of energy today. She seemed strong and confident on her morning walk and walked around the house unassisted much more than I expected. Her left rear leg is still extremely weak, but she seems to be learning to distribute her weight and balance herself better. I'm always happy when Dot has a good day, but have learned not to become overconfident. Tomorrow Dot could be stumbling around like a drunken sailor again. There is no real consistency in Dot's condition. She has good days and bad days. I'm just happy when she has a good day.

I got quite a bit done today. In addition to birthday shopping, I did some writing and website work. Of course I washed the car again as soon as the rain stopped. I can't stand a dirty car. I didn't even bother to go up on the roof after today's rain. It has been so hot lately that I'm sure the water has already evaporated anyway. Today was nice. We had a nice birthday celebration after dinner. I was busy all day, but not rushed. That's the way it should be. Dot had a good day too. We should do this more often.

I hope that Dot still feels good tomorrow when we go for our physical therapy session. I'm proud of Dot's amazing tenacity and like to brag about how well she's doing. It's always disappointing when she takes a turn for the worse. We have to temper the good with the bad unfortunately. That's what life is all about. Sometimes I think Dot understands this basic truth far better than I do.

Next week is Dot's birthday. We'll probably celebrate exactly the same way we did today.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1716 - Dot's Birthday

Dot had a big day. We started the day by returning to our regular route for the dog's morning walk. I walked Dot and Dash together and Dot had no trouble going the full distance. We walked a lot slower than usual, but nobody was in a hurry. Dot also got to go back to training class this evening. This was the first time she's returned to the class since her surgery and she seemed to enjoy the outing. We didn't do all the exercises, but she seemed eager to participate in some of the easier routines. When we got home, we all had cake.

I'm still not sure how old Dot is. Janet says she turned 13 this year, but I thought she was 13 last year. Maybe it's like a woman's 39th birthday. Dot might end up being 13 forever.

I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before.  It's easy and it's delicious. When I was worried about my blood sugar levels, I stopped eating wheat products for over a year. Since grain converts to sugar during digestion, cutting bread out of my diet brought my blood sugar levels back to normal very quickly. I also lost a fair amount of weight. All this is good. The only problem was that I have always loved bread. Now that my liver is functioning normally again and I have significantly improved my chances for avoiding diabetes by eating a healthy diet, bread has become a bigger temptation than ever. I haven't pigged out on French Toast with Maple Syrup yet, but I do enjoy the occasional sandwich. Even though this morning's grilled ham and cheddar sandwich was delicious, I'll be back eating my oatmeal tomorrow. Dot won't be eating cake again for quite a while either.

I wish I was was busier at work, but it's probably been good that things are slow now. I've spent so much time this Spring and Summer caring for sick dogs and driving them back and forth between various vet appointments that I don't know where I would have found the time to do my normal workload anyway. Tomorrow is another physical therapy day for Dot. She's gotten strong enough now to do a full twenty minute workout on the underwater treadmill. It's amazing how well she's doing physically. You'd never know she was a senior citizen until you saw her pee all over the house. If we can ever resolve her incontinence issues, I think Dot will have made a full recovery.

I need to order a full set of ink cartridges and a new maintenance tank for the large format printer tomorrow. I've managed to use up all eight cartridges just doing cleaning cycles to keep the printer from clogging. Since the cartridges cost $57 each, I wonder if it is worth the effort. It's kind of insane to work so hard to keep this cranky printer running properly. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a gallery show again, but I probably won't. I may never make a huge print again. It's nice to have a good printer just in case though. I may not do much these days, but I'm certainly well prepared.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1356 - Dot's Birthday

We don't actually know when our dogs were born, or how old they are. We celebrate their birthday on the day we adopted them, or if that doesn't work out, on the first weekend after their adoption day. By this convoluted logic, Dot's birthday is today. I think we actually adopted Dot on August 27, but this was the first day where there was time for a party.

Since the only gift a dog really appreciates is food, we wrapped up an assortment of dog biscuits and got a couple more doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. The dog treats were greatly appreciated, but we could have skipped today's trip to the dog park. It was simply too hot. The dogs walked around the park once, sat under a tree for a while, drank some water, and then we came home again. It was 106 degrees today.

I spent longer waiting in line at Sprinkles for the cupcakes than I did at the dog park this morning, but that's the way it goes on a hot day in Dallas. I guess when there's nothing better to do, you eat cupcakes. When I was waiting in line, I noticed the store was selling frosting without the cupcake. Strange. People were ordering the little cups of frosting and consuming them like shots of Tequila.  I've decided that the Sprinkles store is God's gift to the dentists of Dallas.

I finally got tired of seeing the Low Coolant light come on every time I started the Evoque, so I decided to fix the problem myself. I downloaded an Evoque owner's manual off the Internet and located the coolant overflow tank. I topped up the tank with the distilled water I use in the coffeemaker and started the engine. The low coolant warning doesn't appear anymore. Problem solved.

When we were taking our evening walk, a group of kids approached us and asked if they could take their picture with Dot and Dash. They said their school was producing The 101 Dalmatians Musical as their class play and wanted to use Dot and Dash in their promotional pictures. Sure, why not. I didn't mention that Dot and Dash had actually met the cast of the Broadway production and even got to meet Rachel York when she was playing the Cruella DeVil role in the show. The dogs get around, but they're not name droppers.

Sp[ot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1343

One good thing about having so many veterinarians as clients and friends is that Dot and Dash always get excellent medical care. Dot went to her emergency vet today to get X-rays and make sure she hadn't seriously injured her leg. Tomorrow she goes to her regular vet for her annual physical exam. Then, on Wednesday she goes to see her physical therapy vet. I'm hoping that seeing three different vets on three consecutive days will help us find a conclusive answer to the problems she's been having with her rear legs. Today's visit was encouraging. Her spine and hips look remarkably good for a dog of her age. There were no visible signs of Spondylosis or pinched nerves on the X-rays either. She still might have a partial tear of her anterior cruciate ligament, but it doesn't look like she suffered a full tear, which is much more serious.

Since Dot was in no immediate danger and Dash's condition seems to have stabilized, I was able to take care of some of my own medical needs. I took copies of some new blood work over to my Hepatologist. I guess I could have just faxed the records, but there were so many that it seemed easier to drive them over to the hospital. Next, I got another doctor to approve a new cholesterol medication that a third doctor wanted me to start taking. My own medical team might not be as friendly and accommodating as Dot's, but dealing with them is just as complex. I've discovered that getting three or more doctors to agree on anything is next to impossible.

Today was Janet's birthday. We didn't have a huge party with an open bar and a rock band, but we did have some delicious Sprinkles cupcakes. Dot and Dash got to enjoy some Sprinkles doggie cupcakes as well. My favorite new Sprinkles flavor is S'mores. Somehow, they taste exactly like the Graham crackers with melted marshmallows and chocolate that are mandatory on any camping trip. Yes, I know that I'm not supposed to eat any sugar, but I probably won't eat another cupcake until the next birthday party. I think I'm OK.

It's a good thing that work was slow today, because I doubt that I could have met any deadlines today anyway. After I got all my medical errands out of the way, I did have time to update a couple of websites. I couldn't upload the changes though, since one of the sites was moving to a new server. With Dot's annual exam and Dash's antigen shot tomorrow, I hope my workload continues to be slow. After Wednesday is over, you guys can start piling it on again, but let's hold off for a little while. I've got sick dogs to deal with.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1341

Today was a bit different. Janet and I went out to eat at a nice restaurant and then went to a friend's birthday party. The dinner menu at Central 214 featured items like Kobe beef pot roast, bacon wrapped rainbow trout and dinosaur kale. The party afterwards was a little more elaborate than the Sprinkles cupcakes and dog biscuits we typically celebrate with as well. There were at least seventy-five guests, an open bar, tons of food, and a fabulous band called Spector's Gun Collection. The name must have been a reference to the Phil Spector murder trial, but the songs were pure British Invasion. When I closed my eyes I could have sworn I was listening to Eric Clapton or The Who.

I was a bit nervous leaving Dash alone for so long, but it was nice to get out for a change. I felt a bit out of place pulling up at the valet park stand behind a Porsche, a Lexus, and a Mercedes. Then I realized I was still driving the Range Rover loaner car, so I guess I fit right in. If my memory was better, I probably would have recognized more of the guests. I probably worked with a lot of these people twenty years ago, but other than the birthday boy and his wife, I couldn't remember who anyone was. It was still a fun party though, even though we mostly just stood around aimlessly, ate cake, and listened to the band. It's a shame I can't drink anymore. The liquor was flowing pretty freely at this party.

Although the day ended with birthday cake and loud music, it started pretty simple. I was up on the roof at 7 AM, sweeping off yesterday's rain water while Janet walked the dogs. The weather was nice and cool this morning, so the dogs got a nice long walk and I got a dry roof. After breakfast, we went up to the Dalmatian Rescue kennels and took pictures of Logan, our newest member of the rescue program. Rescues are doing well this Summer. The pair of dogs we photographed last week have already found a home.

Hopefully, after a week on phenobarbital, Dash will have stabilized a bit and be able to enjoy his trip to the dog park tomorrow. Last week was a disaster, but he's seemed completely normal all week. Here's hoping for the best, anyway. The dog park is usually Dash's favorite event of the week.  I'm cutting it pretty close tonight with all the festivities this evening. Looks like I'm going to make my deadline though. Still haven't missed a day.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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