Day 2154

This was the last day before they start digging a tunnel under our house, so there was lots to do. The day started normally enough. We got up early, cleaned up a small mess Dot had made and then took both dogs on their morning walk. It was surprisingly cold this morning. The temperature was in the low forties. For the first time in ages the outside humidity was in the low forties too, so we could finally open up the doors and windows and air out the house without worrying about raising the humidity again. We didn't even attempt to cook breakfast at home this morning and went to a nearby restaurant instead. This was a restaurant I'd been meaning to try, so I was curious about the food. The Eggs Benedict I ordered was good, but I still like my regular restaurant better.

I'm wondering if we'll have to go to the laundromat every day. Janet did a big load of dog blankets yesterday and there are more soiled blankets today. We had to go buy more water too. We forgot and used the wrong toilet in the middle of the night and had to refill it with 6 gallons of water instead of the 1.5 gallons that the more modern toilet uses. It's a learning process. Janet wants to buy one of those big dehumidifier machines now. The house really feels better now that it isn't humid anymore. The machines not only sucked out the moisture related to the plumbing leak, they continued to suck trapped moisture out of the brick walls, the rugs and even the clothes in our closets.

The big job today was providing an entrance for the tunnel diggers. They are planning to access the broken underground pipe through an interior atrium garden that is enclosed on three sides by the house, with a screened porch as a fourth wall facing the back yard. There are several panels to the large screened-in wall, so I decided to remove one of the screens. The 60 year old nails holding the trim in place seemed fused to the partially rotted wood. The nails had all rusted and were hard to remove without breaking the trim in several pieces. I was eventually able to remove the screen wire and might even be able to re-use it later. I cracked one of the wooden trim pieces than hid the exposed edges of the screen wire. All in all, the job was a success. I didn't totally destroy anything.

After I had created a passageway so the tunnel diggers could remove the dirt they were excavating, it occurred to me that Dash will want to investigate this new opening in the atrium and would probably jump in the hole and wind up getting stuck under the house. I went back to the storage warehouse and got some plastic fencing that we used as temporary kennels at rescue events. I turned this dog pen into a makeshift gate that will keep Dash out of the atrium while the tunnel crew is digging the hole.

It's nice having the hotel as a place where we can take refuge when necessary. When I finished taking apart the atrium this afternoon, I drove over to the hotel to clean up and take a shower. This is a nice hotel and I always look like hell when I arrive. I usually look much more presentable when I leave a few hours later. The shower in the hotel is really nice. The tile grout is sparkling white. The water is nice and hot. There's even a clever, invisible anti-slip surface so you won't fall and bust your butt. I guess we could have a shower like this too if we just ripped out the old one and put in something new.

When I was working outside this morning, it occurred to me that the weather was absolutely perfect. The sky was clear, the temperature was 68 degrees with very low humidity. There wasn't even any pollen in the air today. I was enjoying the clean, fresh air and then I began to smell wood smoke. Yup. That time of year again. When the temperature dips below 80 degrees, Texans start lighting fires in their fireplaces. I attribute this odd behavior to non-stop Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, but it could be anything.

My last job for the day is to cover up a large picture window in the hallway with brown wrapping paper. I have this theory that if Dot can't see the workers tomorrow, she won't bark at them. We'll see how that goes.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2153

It takes at least a gallon and a half of water to flush a toilet. You can use a quart of water just rinsing off a few dishes to put in the dishwasher. It only takes a cup of water to brush your teeth however. I'm learning a lot about water. Like most of you reading this, I use an enormous amount of water without even thinking about it. There's a water bill every month, but water still seems a bit like air. It is just there. It is only when you take away the water that you realize its true significance.

Dot pooped in her bed again last night. I instinctively went to a nearby bathroom sink to wet a rag so I could clean her up. Oops. There is no water coming from these faucets. There is no water coming from any faucets. I carefully pick up as much poop as I can using a plastic poop bag. I know I can't just take the dog blanket outside and hose it down anymore. I wet a rag using a bottle of distilled water I use to make coffee and carefully clean Dot's tail and under belly. The blanket isn't that bad. I put it in a pile of dog blankets that will go to the laundromat. I get a fresh blanket for Dot and we go back to bed. I only used up a cup of water to do all this.

If you want an egg for breakfast, you have to remember that you can't clean the pan. Once the dishwasher fills up with plates that you've carefully rinsed using small amounts of your valuable bottled water, you realize that your should have been using paper plates and plastic cups all along. Old habits die hard. You scrape plates into the garbage disposal and then realize that there's no water to wash the food away. You use more of your stash of water to briefly run the disposal so it won't start to smell next Tuesday. The two large dehumidifiers and the air conditioner working in tandem have already brought the humidity levels back to the normal range. The vent resisters are dry again. We've made a lot of progress.  There is no reason to mess things up at this point by turning the water back on again for a small amount of time so we could take showers and do laundry. The leak is large, so turning the water on again for even thirty minutes could put us right back where we started.

It's not like we're camping out. It's just that the bathroom is ten miles away now. Janet slept in the hotel last night and I went over this morning to take a shower. I'm envious of Dash when I watch him lift his leg in the park and pee wherever he wants. Too bad I can't do the same thing. It sure would make life simpler. When we went grocery shopping today, we mostly bought things that you can simply heat up in the microwave and eat without getting any more plates dirty. I'm wondering whether I can still make my morning smoothies. To clean the Vitamix, all you do is fill the container with about half a quart of water, add a little soap, and run the "clean" cycle. I should be able to do this with my stash of bottled water. The alternative is just to go out for breakfast every morning until the plumber fixes the leak. That sounds pretty good too.

All in all, the day went well. We washed a huge load of towels and dog blankets at a nearby laundromat. Too bad there's not a laundromat for dirty dishes. The humidity in the house is only 41% right now. We're making progress. I bought a bunch of bottled water for flushing toilets at Sam's Club. I even got caught up on some of the website work I was supposed to do yesterday. I watched another new episode of Dr. Who and will probably watch Saturday Night Live, just to see what Donald Trump does. Tomorrow I need to get ready for the tunnel digging crew to arrive. Mostly this involves taking apart a screened in porch without totally destroying it. We'll see if Dot can make it through the night. If she can't, there will be another trip to the laundromat tomorrow.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1656

The dogs both got a long overdue bath this morning. The combination of Dash's cancer treatment and Dot's advancing age has meant that the dogs have been a little dirtier lately. Since they both sleep on the bed with us at night, there comes a point when a bath is necessary though. It's hard to sleep when your dog stinks. What amazed me today was how good Dash has become about getting a bath. He hopped right into the tub at the Dirty Dawgz self-bathe place and didn't put up a fuss at all. This would have seemed impossible a year ago. I think going back and forth for radiation treatments all Spring has changed Dash. He trusts people more now and is much more accepting of things. After all he's been through, he probably realizes now that a bath isn't going to hurt him at all.  Our boy is growing up.

After we returned home with two clean, good smelling dogs, I went up on the roof to remove the standing water from the rain we had earlier in the week. I tried to make sure that the runoff went on the lawn, instead of into the street, since I didn't want the code compliance guy getting on my case again. The water did eventually drain into the street anyway, but it evaporated quickly, since it was a hot day.

I then went to the grocery store and bought another case of bottled water. We go through the stuff, well, like water. I don't remember when, or why, we stopped drinking water out of the tap, but it's been a long time. There is even one of those ice-water dispensing gizmos in the door of the refrigerator, but I don't use that either. I know our water is perfectly safe, because we fill the dogs water bowls with tap water all the time. Drinking bottled water is just one in a long list of totally irrational things I do every day.

We didn't get any mail today. That was strange. You can usually count on the post office to deliver a steady stream of flyers and junk from mattress stores, politicians, Bed Bath and Beyond, and AARP. Most of this stuff goes straight to the trash without even being opened, but still it's nice to know that the postman is making his appointed rounds.

"What are you going to write on your blog tonight, since nothing happened today?" Janet asked me during dinner. "So," I said. "That has never stopped me before."

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1116

I put away the Christmas decorations for another year. If this year zips along as quickly as the previous one, I'll be getting them out again before you know it. I don't know why time seems to pass so quickly now. I get much less done than I used to, but all the available hours remain filled while the time races along at an alarming rate.

The usual Austin indie bands didn't accompany my breakfast at the cool restaurant this morning. Instead, I listened to the same Beatles tunes I heard in the elevator when I went to the doctor on Wednesday. Overheard conversations were a bit different too. Two girls with purple streaked hair at the next table were talking about how to get into the best sororities at SMU. Although the attire was different, I could have heard this same conversation thirty years ago. Sometimes I wonder if anything changes at all.

I accidentally discovered that there were channels on the U-verse TV above 1000 last night. Most of these new channels were in high definition too. I don't know why I never discovered all these additional channels before. I guess I never went channel surfing above 300. The ironic thing is that for over a year, I've been thinking I was watching HD TV and I actually wasn't. Shows what I know.  Maybe I'll eventually get the hang of the television, telephones, and Internet all coming through the same IP pipe. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to our caller ID. It was there two weeks ago and now it's gone. I have a feeling that the dogs turned it off somehow. Their waging tails hit the set-top box every morning when they are trying to get us out of bed. They could have easily changed one of the settings.

I might have finally figured out why Dash is throwing up. In today's pile of junk mail was a inconspicuous little post card with tiny type on one side. The card was from the water department and the tiny type said that the city's water treatment plant had failed to meet quality standards during the month of December. Jeez! You'd think something like this would have made the evening news. Nope. This tiny little post card was the first I'd heard that our tap water might be polluted. You'd think with all the tax money we give the city, they could at least give us clean water in return. Oh, well. Janet and I have been drinking bottled water for years. Maybe we'll have to start pouring the Ozarka bottle into the dogs bowls as well.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day