Day 3091

We're making progress. The landscaper said he's coming over and will replace the dead grass. The roofer contacted me and said they were very busy with hail damage, but hadn't forgotten about me. The art auction house sends me about three e-mails a day and we are inching closer and closer to a deal. All this stuff will get taken care of. It just takes time.

There was blood on the bed again this morning. I don't know where Dash is bleeding. When I look in his mouth, there are no obvious signs of bleeding and all of his paws look fine. The blood is obviously coming from somewhere. Maybe Dash is coughing it up. When I mentioned the bleeding to the vet at Dash's last big exam, he didn't seem very alarmed. The bleeding is sporadic and only seems to happen about once a week. I guess I'll just keep an eye on things. It's probably nothing. Plavix can make even minor cuts seem alarming.

I got some Thai food the other day that was way too hot. Janet suggested rinsing the noodle dish with warm water in a colander to remove a lot of the spicy sauce. Surprisingly, this worked great. I had the noodles for dinner. They were still tasty, but were only half as hot as they were yesterday. Live and learn.

I like the picture of the purple thistle I took this morning. You may be seeing a lot of thistles. The park is full of them this year. There isn't a lot of variety in this years crop of wildflowers, but there are a ton of Texas Thistles, Engelmann Daisies, Native Sunflowers, Yucca Flowers, and Horse Nettle. I wonder what happened to the other flowers this year? Sometimes the meadows are a carpet of colorful plants. This year, not so much.

I'm watching the coverage of the big summit in Singapore. It appears like every reporter in the world is over there. Non stop coverage and nobody has a clue about what's actually going on. It's non-stop speculation. Kim went sightseeing. What does that mean? Why is Dennis Rodman wearing a pot crypto currency t-shirt? Kim is smiling? What does that mean? It's a circus. I wouldn't be surprised if something significant actually does happen. Why not? It would be pretty easy for the two leaders to formally end the Korean War. If it were up to me, I'd start with a meaningful symbolic gesture like this and leave the hard stuff for later.

I'm all for leaving the hard stuff for later. That's why I didn't do much of anything today. It's weird not having websites to update. For years and years I had websites to update and articles to write every single day. Now I spend my days figuring out how to dispose of things I acquired during the busy years. Working is winding up a watch and retirement is watching it unwind.

The roofer and the landscaper didn't show up today, but at least they called. There's always tomorrow. Maybe I'll see these guys tomorrow.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2666

I made an appointment to get Dot fitted for a doggie wheelchair. Unfortunately, the first appointment I could get is two weeks from now. I hope that Dot hasn't deteriorated further by then. I'd really like to see her get some use out of the wheels. It's too bad she can't use the wheelchair we had built for Spot. The wheelchair has been sitting in the storage warehouse for years, but since it was built specifically for Spot and is not adjustable, it is of little use to another dog. The design of modern dog wheelchairs has improved quite a bit. They are more durable and can be easily adjusted for an exact fit. Some dogs learn to use these things almost immediately and gain a new sense of mobility and freedom. Other dogs are confused and don't know what to do with the wheels strapped to their legs. Dot is a smart dog. Well, she was a smart dogs before she became senile anyway. I hope she can understand the concept and start enjoying walking again.

I kept seeing blood in the kitchen when I was eating breakfast this morning. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I checked both dogs paws to make sure they hadn't gotten cut on their walk. I briefly thought I had squashed a strawberry when I was making my morning smoothie. Then I looked at my hand. Jeez. Why hadn't I even noticed that the blood was coming from me? I never felt anything, but it was a pretty bad cut. My blood clots pretty easily, so the cut had already scabbed over, but it was pretty obvious that this was where the mess in the kitchen was coming from. I still have no idea how I cut myself.

A friend suggested that we try yoga mats to give Dot traction around the house. It was actually a very good idea. I don't know why I never thought of this before. Probably because I don't do yoga and have never owned one of these mats. I've seen them though. They are lighter and much easier to clean than the rugs we are using now. The only downside might be that I don't think these mats are very absorbent. If Dot peed on one, the urine would probably just roll off the surface and stain the brick floor. It's worth a try though. We certainly haven't come up with the perfect solution yet.

I mailed out my April invoices this afternoon. Invoicing clients used to take me most of the day. Now I can take care of everything in a few minutes. It's pathetic how rapidly the business shrunk after I became eligible for social security. When I was young we used to laugh about how routinely creative folks were put out to pasture at the ad agencies once they turned forty. I never even considered what might happen thirty years after that. Sometimes I think that my few remaining clients have just forgotten that I'm still on retainer. I rarely see these people anymore. Some of them probably don't even know who I am.

I need to make a doctors appointment. I'm way overdue for new blood work, but I just don't feel like going in. My doctor told me at one point that one of his biggest frustrations was that many of his older patients just quit taking their meds, despite all his warnings about heart attacks and diabetes. It didn't make sense to me at the time, but now I'm starting to understand. You take all these pills for years and years and you still keep getting older. After a while all the warnings seem pointless. When you look at yourself in the mirror and see your Dad's face looking back at you, you know how it's all going to end.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1700

Dash has a bloody tail again. Now, I've got blood to clean up as well as pee. Lord knows how Dash got Happy Tail again. I though his tail had completely healed from the last Happy Tail episode. He was fine when he woke up this morning, but when I took him on his morning walk about 45 minutes later, the tip of his tail was all bloody. It's probably just an occupational hazard of living in our rather small house. He wags his tail really hard and there are plenty of things to bump into. For the time being, I've got to try to keep Dash off the furniture, while keeping Dot on her waterproof pads. It's a three ring circus.

Dot almost made it through the night last night. We all slept soundly until a little after 4:30 AM, when Dot had to go outside. By then it was almost pointless to go back to bed, but everyone was so tired that staying up and starting the day a bit early wasn't even considered. The dogs immediately headed back to bed and so did Janet and I. Every hour counts when you're not getting enough sleep.

One of my stocks shot up over 20% today as a result of some big merger. I was elated at my good fortune until my broker called about two hours later to tell me he had just sold the stock because he thought it was overvalued now. Even though this was the right thing to do, I was still disappointed. It would have been nice to have a big winner in my portfolio for a few days. I need to remember that I have encouraged my broker to take action like this. I don't really have the discipline to buy low and sell high. I've lost big time in the past by hanging on to things too long. Like Kenny Rogers says, "You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run." I don't. I probably never will.

I finished the design work on my latest website project today. I can't launch the site yet though, because there is no content. The client was going to provide the content. Right now, the site is just headlines, navigation buttons and pretty pictures. It might stay that way for quite a while. It takes a lot longer to write good content than most people think it does. It's one thing to have an idea in your head. It's another thing entirely to take the time to write it down. I called another client the other day and listened to a message while I was waiting on hold inviting people to send them pictures and stories for their new blog. "What's the address of your new blog?" I asked my client when he picked up the phone. "Oh, we don't really have a blog yet," he told me. "We were just hoping that if people heard this phone message, they would send us enough stuff so we could make one." Yeah, right. That's likely to happen.

It's hard to live in the moment when you don't like the moment you're in. In Texas, it's always too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry. It's rare for me to go outside in the morning and think "Wow, what a fabulous day." I used to feel this way a lot when I lived in Colorado. I was younger then though. I have a feeling that 100 degree August afternoons don't bother you as much when you're 25.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1593

Dash threw up last night. This hasn't happened since he started his cancer treatments and I was hoping that it wouldn't happen at all. Since it is important that he always has his phenobarbital pill, I instinctively looked through the mess on the carpet to see if the pill was still there. He had just taken his night time meds an hour earlier, so there was a good chance that it would be. While I was looking for the illusive pill, I remembered that the cancer center folks told me in the very beginning that if Dash ever threw up, I was supposed to consider it as toxic waste and not to touch the vomit with my hands while I was cleaning the mess up. Oh, well. Too late now. It seems almost inevitable that I will eventually poison myself before Dash is finally finished with his lengthy chemo regime. Since Dash has eaten two regular meals today and has seemed fine all day, I don't think the episode last night had anything to do with his cancer. We just ate dinner and fed the dogs way too late yesterday and Dash drank a lot of water just before he went to bed. Dogs frequently throw up for no reason at all. I just wish he would put this behavior on hold until we manage to get through with this cancer treatment.

When I was taking the groceries out of the back of the car this afternoon, I happened to look up and noticed that there were little spots of blood all over the headliner. Damn. I immediately knew what had happened, but it didn't help much. You know how dogs shake when they get out of the water? Well, Dalmatians shake like this after they do anything at all. One day last week, Dash had "happy tail" when he came home from his radiation treatment. Dalmatians often wag their tails very vigorously and end up hitting things with their tail that get in the way. If the wagging goes on too long, some times the tip of the tail starts to bleed. Usually when this happens, I just put a little Hydrogen peroxide on the tail and everything is fine a few minutes later. I guess I forgot that Dash always does this shaking routine right after he gets in the car. He must have ended up shaking little drops of blood from the tip of his tail all over the white headliner. So much for the new car look.

The scar on Dash's neck was still moist when he woke up this morning. This is not good. I need to figure out a reliable way to make sure the wound gets lots of air so it can dry out, while still keeping the area well protected from any attempts to scratch the incision site with a rear paw. Everything is fine if I make sure Dash is always nearby whereI can see him,. Unfortunately, he likes to wander off where I can't see him. I haven't come up with a good solution yet.

Dalmatian Rescue is having another of their periodic casino party fundraisers tonight. This is the first time in quite a while that I stayed home and won't be spinning the roulette wheel. It's just too long to leave the dogs alone. Ever since Dot ate the carpet, I've been penning her in a small brick area in the hallway where she can't get into trouble. I don't leave blankets, pillows or rugs in the area, just in case she might decide to chew them. Unfortunately, the bricks are pretty hard on her tired old bones and I hate to leave her here for very long. Since Dash threw up last night and has a scar that seems to be turning into an infection, I don't want to let him out of my sight at all. Hopefully, Janet won't get overwhelmed running the roulette table by herself.

I've been really tired and probably pretty irritable lately, The entire Spring has seemed like a long journey to an uncertain destination. I keep looking for the finish line, but I don't see it yet.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day