Day 4833

I'm happy to report that today was an absolutely normal Sunday. Dawn got her Sunday outing again and she was more than pleased to resume her routine. She was still a little unsteady in the car, but I sat in the back seat with her to keep her from falling. We took a shorter walk than normal, but she had plenty of time to smell things and eat grass. I wish she wouldn't try to eat grass. Unfortunately every dog we've ever had has liked to nibble at fresh Spring grass.

Of course we went for ice cream after our walk. The ice cream store raised their prices again. Jeez. We might have to start going to Dairy Queen if this continues. The ice cream was still good though. Hey, little extravagances are worth it if your dog likes them.

The day started normally enough. We took Dawn on a short sunrise walk and she did very well. After seeing how well she did, we decided that she was ready for her Sunday outings again. The only thing we've got to be careful about now is her tendency to jump on and off the bed. She knows she is supposed to use the step at the base of the bed now, but if you aren't watching her, she will still try to jump. None of this is all that strange. Not only is Dawn a dog, she's a very stubborn Dalmatian.

I fixed French Toast for breakfast this morning. It's the one thing that Janet says I make better than she does. As usual I made and ate too much. There's no sense in having left over French Toast so I ate twice as much as I should. It's a good thing that Sundays are filled with lots of walks.

There was nothing new at the mall this week. A noticed very few changes as I made my five laps around the perimeter. There were a few more Spring styles in the windows, but that was about it. The place was crowded with walkers and very noisy this week. Maybe I just didn't get there early enough. This seems to be the favorite place for families to take small children on a weekend. Many of the kids were in strollers, but some of the older ones pushed their own little strollers which carried their dolls. 

Going to and from the mall is the only time I listen to the radio. I never listen to music and only listen to NPR is there is a show about science or the economy. If they are talking about some social or political issue I turn the radio off. Today I listened to one show about the shortage of cadavers for anatomy students in today's medical schools. On the way home I listened to another show about the economics of running an airline. Steven Dubner's Freakonomics Radio is always an interesting show.

Since the living room looks a lot better after I bleached the leak stains in the ceiling, I thought I'd try the same thing in the office. This was a harder task since there is a carpet on the floor and the room is filled with junk that could be discolored by bleach. I found an old plastic shower curtain that we had to use when one of our dogs became incontinent while still insisting on sleeping on the bed. This actually worked pretty well to protect the carpet. The room looks better now although you can still see some stains and there are cracks in the sheetrock. Oh, well. This will do for now. Eventually we will replace the damaged sheetrock throughout the house, but that's a ways down the road.

This weekend really went quickly. There is a lot I need to do next week if I can get myself motivated. Bulky trash day is coming soon and I still need to finish raking leaves. I also need to see if I can find where the water is still getting in on the roof before it rains again on Thursday. It's questionable if any of this will happen, but we'll see. 

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4827

Dawn got a walk this morning and she did quite well. She seemed much happier today and being able to resume some of her regular activies was probably the reason. It's hard to tell if she is actually getting better since she is still taking pain medication and her neck still feels puffy. She's started to shake her head again which is both good and bad. It's good that her neck isn't as painful anymore, but we're going to have to start wearing the No Flap Ear Wrap again. The hematoma in her ear is starting to improve and we don't want that to get bad again.

I didn't do anything exciting today, but I did stay busy. I did several chores that I've been trying to avoid like cleaning toilets and trying to remove the stains on the ceiling. Spraying bleach on the ceiling works pretty well to remove a lot of the brown stains, but it's a messy job. You have to remove everything in the area, so you don't bleach furniture or other objects by mistake. I've learned to wear a hat, glasses and white clothing while I'm doing this so I don't ruin my clothes as well. The living room looks better now but I'm not even going to bother with the stains in the office ceiling. That part of the house is still leaking.

When Janet came home from the gym I took my long walk. We make sure that one of us is always home now to keep an eye on Dawn. We're making progress and the last thing we want is for Dawn to hurt her leg again with a bad fall. It turns out to be easier to let her continue to sleeping on our bed rather than gate her in a hallway where she can't fall. Dawn is a very stubborn dog and she just won't relax if she can't do things her way. Breakfast her way now means breakfast in bed. I don't know why she won't eat her breakfast in the kitchen anymore but it's not a big deal. I bring her bowl back to the bed and she eats there lying down. Oddly, she eats her other meals just fine in the kitchen.

Our weather has been like a roller coaster lately. One day it's hot and the next day it's cold. Today it was pretty chilly. It's hard to decide what to wear because it's always colder next to the lake. At least it was sunny today. I dressed warmly and completed my route, even though my feet hurt at the end. I'm not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. It stays dark too long in the morning now and light too long in the evening.  I guess the late sunsets don't really matter because I'm not taking a telescope out in the evening anyway. The only connection I have with astronomy these days is testing the star tracker inside the house.

I had a nice walk this morning but it bothers me that I'm getting tired more easily. Walking six miles seems like a struggle at times. I'm going to keep walking though. I'm convinced that this activity is keeping me healthy and walking in the park is a lot easier than driving to the gym. I'm already doing better than my parents. Dad had Parkinson's Disease at my age and Mom was already dead.

I hate hearing that there's going to be a run on the banks after Silicon Valley Bank failed. Jeez. The money I have in the bank is my safe money, since I've never considered investing in the stock market to be all that safe. If the banks aren't safe anymore what do you do? Personally I think the news media love to scare people because it's good for ratings. They are making a big deal out of the bank failure because they know it will scare people. They've also been making a big deal out of airline safety lately because people are traveling more. Be that way if you want. I'll just quit listening to the news.

I need to remember that I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Doctors and dentists hate it when you fail to show up. I have to go to the dermatologist now because I have a few spots of actinic keratosis on my face. Since this is sometimes a pre-cancerous condition they want to check me every six months. No problems so far. The doctor freezes the keratosis spots with liquid nitrogen and I'm on my way. Did I mention that I hate growing old.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4764

I finally tried to remove the brown water leak stains in the ceiling this morning. I've done this before and I tried not to make the same mistakes I usually make. The proceedure involves using a spray bottle to soak the affected areas with bleach and hope that the stain disappears. The problem is that tiny droplets of bleach sometimees go where they are not supposed to. This time I knew to wear a hat and not to wear my usual black t-shirt. I also moved everything under the stained area out of the way. I did a pretty good job. The ceiling looks much better now although a few small stained areas remain. A few droplets of bleach got on some furniture, but I cleaned them up quickly before the bleach discolored anything. Since the house smelled of bleach anyway, I also cleaned out the tubs of both dehumidifiers with bleach. These water tubs get pretty nasty after a while. I still need to replace the sheetrock in the ceiling, but I'm not going to do that until we get a new roof. The next really heavy rainstorm we get will make the leaks appear all over again. These water leaks really make me feel like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill.

I still haven't heard anything about the Falcon Heavy launch, but I talked with one of my launch photographer friends and the Florida folks haven't heard anything either. Who knows what is going on. I may or may not end up going to this launch and I'm beginning not to care. I do know that the launch has been postponed until Friday which is too bad because airline flights are more expensive on the weekend. Maybe I'll find out something tomorrow.

We walked Dawn in the dark again this morning. Janet likes to keep a regular work schedule even though we have both been retired for quite a while. We always get up earlier on weekdays. I could sleep until 8 AM every morning, but it's not so bad getting up early. I've got to get up at some point anyway. Dawn loves these early walks. She spends most of her time zig zagging around smelling things. At first I thought she was smelling other dogs, but we're usually the first to walk every morning, so I think she is smelling wild animals now. There are tons of animals in the park and they probably spend all night peeing on things.

Every morning I contemplate going to the gym and then end up taking my walk in the park instead. I kind of like shooting baskets at the gym, but that doesn't overcome my dislike of driving. Usually it's just general laziness that makes me choose a walk in the park. It's easy to just head out the back door and start walking. Today's walk was completely uneventful. There is no construction activity to watch anymore and lord knows where the eagles have gone. I haven't seen them in over two weeks now.

I still can't decide whether to attempt a trip out to the observatory this year. I'm pretty sure there will be events where they will need volunteers in the Spring. I'm not at all sure about the long drive though. The last time I returned home from West Texas I kept thinking that this was my last trip. The drive was very tiring. I hate to give up though. I'm determined not to wind up like my Dad, sitting on the couch and watching television all day. It's a shame that the two things I like are so far away. I do enjoy my time at the observatory though. Maybe I'll send a letter and see if they are looking for volunteers.

Tomorrow will probably be very much like today. I should make an effort to go to the gym just to do something different. We'll see.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3802

Maybe I've become too dependent on weather forecasting apps. Janet and I were both convinced that it was going to rain this morning, so we walked Dawn even earlier than we usually do to avoid getting wet. Getting started before sunrise meant we had the park to ourselves. We saw dozens of Great Egrets and very few people. The temperature was nice as well. I was a little sleepy when we started our early walk, but I hope we can manage to do this again. It was a very pleasant two hours.

It never did rain today. Actually the skies cleared up and it got quite warm later in the day. I didn't feel like mowing the grass, so I thought I'd try to remove the water stains in the living room ceiling with bleach. I don't know why I'm always convinced that this will work, because it never does. I certainly didn't get off to a good start today. When I went outside to get the stepladder, I got stung by a bee.

It's not easy to soak the ceiling with bleach, because gravity causes it to drip down my arm and all over the floor. I've ruined a few items of clothing when I've tried to do this in the past, so I only wear things that I don't mind getting soaked by bleach. I made a good effort today, but I can't honestly say that the ceiling looks any better. I guess I'll be forced to sand everything down and patch the areas with drywall mud. There's still no reason to actually remove and replace the sheetrock until we get a new roof. It would be nice if the house looked a little better though.

I paid some more bills and did a little accounting in Quickbooks this afternoon. Online banking is starting to seem more familiar now. I don't know if I'll ever be confident enough to set everything up to auto-pay, but I'm making progress. I'll have to admit that this is a lot easier than writing checks and driving to the post office.

After all the dire warnings from my dermatologist about possible side effects from cryosurgery, I haven't noticed anything at all. If my face is going to turn bruised and blotchy, it certainly hasn't happened yet. The keratosis doesn't look very different either. Did I even go to the dermatologist? We'll see if the liquid nitrogen treatment works, but this wasn't what I expected.

It's a shame I'm not down in Titusville now. I'm starting to see a lot of media coverage of the Demo-2 mission now that the launch is only a few days away. Obviously some people still have media credentials. Too bad I'm not one of them. I can see these guys asking the astronauts questions on TV. I wonder how many members of the press are actually there. NASA isn't saying, but the Press Site at KSC does look pretty empty.

It was amusing to hear Dr Fauci say that there would be irreparable damage to the country if we didn't open up soon. Wasn't this the same guy who said kids shouldn't go to school next year and that we should stay in lockdown mode over the Summer? I wonder why nobody seems to hold the good doctor accountable for his many flip-flops? He has changed his mind radically on almost everything. The virus isn't something to worry about in the United States. No, forget that. The virus will kill millions. Don't wear a mask. Nevermind. You've all got to wear a mask. I could go on and on. It's all on tape. Hey, the guy's got an honest face. And he's a scientist.

In other news, the State of Washington announced today that they mistakenly gave away millions of the state's unemployment money to a Nigerian Prince. Yep. We're really on top of this pandemic stuff.

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3406

Eventually there will be nothing left to clean. Housecleaning seems kind of pointless to me, but it does occupy time. Today I brought a tall stepladder in the house and applied bleach to the stained areas on the ceiling. I've done this once before but the roof leak returned and stained the sheetrock all over again. Not surprisingly, I ruined a shirt while I was applying the bleach. While I was making a mess, Janet took a large comforter and other bedding that won't fit in our washing machine to the laundromat. The white comforter needed some bleach as well.

I don't know how long I'll continue taking a three mile walk in the morning, but for now it seems to be the most convenient way to get my 10,000 steps a day. Usually I see ducks nesting at this time of year, but they are strangely absent. Maybe the ducks have moved to the other side of the lake. I did see some Black Swallowtail butterflies and a few Red Wing Blackbirds. A couple of meadows are covered with small Huisache Daisies now. The season is still early, but it looks like it's going to be a good year for wildflowers.

I say all this but I'm really not much of a naturalist. I only took these long walks for the dogs. The jury is still out on whether I'll continue walking indefinitely. Walking is good exercise, but I'm just killing time. I've photographed all these flowers before. I've counted the ducks and learned how to avoid the poison ivy. I've seen rainbows and spectacular sunsets, but without a dog it's hard to see the point of it all. For now the Fitbit will keep me going. I've become a slave to the Fitbit.

Janet thinks I should volunteer for something. I try to explain that it's hard to avoid other people when you're volunteering. I guess I miss my old life. Writing and website development jobs kept me very busy. Clients paid my bills and the dogs kept me company. I sat in a little room in front of a large computer monitor and solved problems. I worked largely unsupervised and avoided meetings at all costs. The money was good and I had little to complain about. I think the dogs liked the arrangement too. I was always around and they became very spoiled. Basically, for many years I was just a well paid dog butler.

I was supposed to pick up the Sequential Circuits synthesizers today. The repairs have been finished for at least a week, but I've been avoiding picking them up. What am I going to do with these things? There is no room to bring them back to the office and I don't want to take them to the storage warehouse. The synthesizers need to be in a climate controlled environment. Keeping them in the storage warehouse for too many years was how they became damaged in the first place. The guitars were easier to deal with since there are plenty of vintage guitar dealers. Vintage analog synthesizer dealers are a little harder to find.

If you are a decisive person I'm probably going to drive you crazy as I slowly inch my way toward whatever comes next. I'm very patient and have a high tolerance for boredom. Don't expect any big changes in the next few weeks or months. I realize it's time for a change. I just don't know what the next chapter will be. Some people search for things. I have better luck just waiting for something to find me.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3349

I always get more done on a sunny day. Nothing important was accomplished, but I did stay busy. Dash was ready to go early this morning. We took a nice long walk and I was back at the house fixing breakfast before 8 AM. Janet usually fixes breakfast on weekends, but she wasn't home this morning, so I made my regular fruit smoothie instead. While I was watching morning TV and drinking the smoothie, I forgot it was Sunday for a while.

After breakfast I fixed the loose roof panels in the greenhouse. The repairs were shoddy as usual, but at least the greenhouse will have a roof until the next wind storm comes along. Since the roof on our house wasn't leaking today, I soaked a sponge with bleach and tried to eradicate the new rust stains on the ceiling. I wonder if I'll ever have the nerve to have a tape and bed guy come out and replace the sheetrock. I've thought the leak was fixed several times before, but it always seems to come back.

Since I already had a sponge soaked with bleach, I tried to remove a stubborn stain on the kitchen counter and then cleaned the toilets. I knew I would make a mess and wore old clothes, but despite my best efforts to be neat, I still spilled some bleach on my shirt. The house still looks more or less the same, but it does small like bleach now.

I got to the gym later than usual and the basketball court was already being used when I arrived. Bummer. Shooting baskets is the only thing I enjoy at the gym. Everything worked out though. By the time I'd finished with the hand bicycle and the treadmill, the court was empty again. On the way home I stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond to look for a bread knife. I didn't find what i was looking for, but I didn't have my big blue coupon with me anyway. I should have gone to REI instead.

I watched the Oscars for a while during dinner. What was Billy Porter thinking? The guy looked like Mary Todd Lincoln. I liked the idea of having Queen opening the show, but I didn't watch long. Maybe the Oscars needs a host after all. I hadn't seen any of these movies, even though most of them are available on iTunes. I just don't watch many movies anymore. The last movie I saw in a theater was The Theory of Everything back in 2014.

Dash had a good day. He was active and engaged for most of the day and felt strong enough to take two walks. It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful day. Even my allergies didn't bother me today. I spotted a few Spring flowers starting to bloom this afternoon. These early signs of Spring usually mean that another cold front is on the way. If flowers are blooming tin February, I wouldn't be surprised to see snow in March.

I hope that Dash stays strong tomorrow. The good days are a blessing now. It is becoming harder and harder for him to move around without falling.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3304

I've been cold all day. Sadly, this is just the beginning of Winter. There will be many more cold days to come. My office is the coldest room in the house. It is a long way from the furnace and by the time the warm air arrives through the floor vents it has already cooled quite a bit. I plugged in my trusty little ceramic heater today. This small four inch square cube does a pretty good job of keep in the office at the same temperature as the rest of the house. Ceramic heaters are much safer than other types of small space heaters, but I've still got to be careful not to let Dash get too close to it. He's curious about anything new and I don't want him to burn his nose.

Since it is still supposed to rain tomorrow I thought I'd try to bleach the stains in the ceiling where water has been leaking in. This won't prevent future leaks, but it will make them easier to see. I've thought about putting bleach in a spray bottle and just spraying the ceiling, but I'm afraid that the mist will get on furniture or pictures hanging on the walls. Instead I soak a rag with bleach and stand on a ladder while I scrub the damaged areas. This works, but it is terrible on my hands. Bleach is nasty stuff. The ceiling looks better now. If I start seeing rust colored stains again, I'll know that the roof repair didn't work. The stains appear first and then the water starts dripping about an hour later.

Tomorrow should provide a good test of the repair work. It's is supposed to rain all day again. Hopefully, Dash will be able to take his morning walk before the rain begins. He is much calmer after he's had a walk. We'll see what happens. If the rain is bad I won't want to leave the house. I've got to be ready to place buckets under any leaks that might appear. I'll feel much better if the house survives the rain tomorrow. On the other hand, if the roof starts leaking again I'll be very discouraged.

I left Dash's harness on for most of the day. He is still falling a lot and it is much more effective to lift him up using the handle on the Ruffwear harness than it is to get my hands under his belly while he is struggling on the floor. Dash would be fine if he stayed on the rugs, but he always seems to find a place where the floor is still slippery. Dot did a little better at adapting to her disability. Dash is so stubborn that he still thinks he can move around like a pup. I don't know when he is going to realize that he would be much more comfortable sleeping on the floor. That doesn't appear to be an option. He is determined to keep sleeping on the bed.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I tried to catch up today by taking a lot of short naps. There wasn't much else to do anyway. You know your day is uneventful when the high point is applying bleach to the ceiling. I guess this was actually the low point as well, but the ceiling does look better. I was going to get a haircut this afternoon, but there were no appointments available until next week. It's just as well I didn't go today anyway. I still haven't shaken that cold.

I was going to wear the new boots I bought on Dash's evening walk, but I couldn't bring myself to put them on. They looked so nice and new in the box. I wore my old worn out boots instead. I'm hopeless. I specifically bought these boots for wearing in the mud. It's hard for me to start using new things. I want everything to stay new looking forever.

I've taken the trash out to the curb, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go out for breakfast tomorrow. It all depends on the weather.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1251

Everything is back to normal now. We took Dot and Dash to the dog park, where they had a grand time wandering around off-leash and taking in all the new smells of Spring. Dot is much slower now and we have to protect her from the more exuberant dogs, but you can tell that she still enjoys these weekly outings.

When we got home, it was time to mow the grass again. I've never been fond of mowing the grass, but since Janet likes to walk the dogs during the weekend, it's become a way for me to keep my activity levels up to my normal weekday standards. Yes, I've become a slave to the little Jawbone UP wristlet. I hate it now when my step count drops below 10,000 steps a day.

I got some bleach and tried to get rid of the stains in the living room ceiling where the water has been coming through. Now that water leaks are hopefully a thing of the past, I've got to decide whether to have a tape and bed guy replace the damaged Sheetrock professionally, or try to do the repairs myself. I know how to do the work, but it's messy and not a lot of fun. It seems like I was doing something like this when I screwed up my neck a few years ago too. Maybe I should leave this to the pros. Dot won't like having workmen inside the house though. Like most things, this will probably just come down to money. I'll get a couple of bids and we'll see how it goes.

I was surprised to discover last night that John Hurt is going to be the next Dr. Who. The guy is 73 years old. That's got to be the oldest Dr. Who ever. I wonder how that's going to work with all those pretty, young companions? It ought to be interesting though. Hurt is a really good actor. I remember him in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man. He was also the guy that had the creature explode out of his stomach during the original Alien movie.

Dot had a brief panic attack this evening. She seemed so certain that it was going to rain that Janet and I turned on the TV and checked the weather radars, just to make sure. I certainly didn't want it to rain tonight, because rain would have made a mess out of the in-progress roof repairs. I think Dot must have had a false alarm. There was no rain in the vicinity on the weather radar. All the bad weather is up in Oklahoma today.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day