Day 4740

I often have trouble remembering what day it is. It's understandable. I do the same things every day. I get up when Janets says "We'll be walking in twenty minutes." I dress warmly for these early walks and then change back into indoor clothes as soon as we return. I make the bed and then eat my breakfast when Janet and Dawn are finished in the kitchen. I fix my coffee and have a bowl of shredded wheat with fruit. Lately the fruit of choice is strawberries, but I enjoy peaches in the summer. I've tried blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, but didn't like those as much. I've gone through periods when I've fixed myself an omlette, made french toast, or eaten a grapefruit. I even got my special omlette recipe featured in a cookbook once. Now shredded wheat seems to do the trick. They have to be mini-wheats without a sugar coating though. I don't like the old fashioned full sized shredded wheat either.

I usually watch television while I'm eating breakfast. This does little to remind me what day it is. I'm a channel surfer and find all the channels equally bad. Fox is the pillow guy every five minutes. MSNBC is non-stop January 6. CNN is the Ukraine channel. Business is looking up on CNBC. A recession is just around the corner on Fox Business. I only watch the local channels if there is a tornado warning. It's all basically worthless, but it's better than eating in silence.

I try to wait until it warms up a bit before I take my long walk, but usually I get bored and leave right after I check my e-mail for messages. When I was working there were a lot of messages. Now my inbox is mostly spam. Walking is even more boring than watching cable news during breakfast, but I've convinced myself that I'm doing this for my health. I'm sure the long walks do some good, but I'm a long way from becoming a gym rat. I still walk pretty slow and occasionally fat people pass me on the trails. 

To amuse myself I try to keep track of what the local birds and waterfowl are doing. There is a lot of activity. We've got a colony of very noisy green monk parakeets. There are tons of mallards, coots, and ruddy ducks. Occasionally I will see some very colorful wood ducks. A large group of American White Pelicans spend the Winter at the lake along with an even larger group of Double Crested Cormorants. I frequently hear owls but rarely see them. I do see lots of Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, and Blue Herons. Hawks are pretty common too. I always see the five domestic geese and the three Muscovy ducks near Sunset Bay because they are always looking for handouts from the people who feed them. Of course, now we've got two Bald Eagles as well. Everyone is interested in the eagles.

Monday is Dawn's favorite day because that's when Janet does her grocery shopping. Grocery day is a big deal for  Dawn. She's waiting at the front door at least an hour before Janet returns. For some reason Dawn seems to get great pleasure watching all the groceries being put away. She certainly knows what food is. I think her favorite words are turkey and bacon.

On slow days I recharge batteries. That's what I did today. Phones, laptops, recorders, cameras and much more all rely on batteries. These batteries go dead whether you use the equipment or not. It seems like I'm always recharging or replacing batteries. This is probably why I will never buy an electric car. Batteries are a giant pain. They're expensive, they don't last long enough, and they perform poorly in cold weather. I've had to replace the lawn mower batteries several times because I forgot to bring the battery pack inside during cold weather. These batteries are inside now because the temperature will dip below freezing soon.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4536

Today's big event was giving Dawn a bath. I didn't think Dawn was too dirty and probably neither did Dawn, but she likes to roll in the dirt and Janet likes a clean dog. We always take Dawn to a self bathe place in the neighborhood. She hates getting in the tub, but always seems to relax when we apply the shampoo and rinse her off with warm water. By the time we dry her with a couple of bath towels, she seems like a happy dog. I kind of feel the same way about taking a shower. I hate getting wet, but it does feel better being clean.

It was surprisingly cold when we took our sunrise walk this morning. The furnace was on when I woke up and I actually needed a coat when we went outside. I thought I was done with Winter coats for the year, but maybe not. The weather here is full of surprises. Dawn approved of the cooler weather and really enjoyed her walk this morning. I thought she might want to take a longer walk, but she was more interested in returning home for her breakfast.

I always take Dawn outside around 11 AM to pee. I sat outside with her for about fifteen minutes and she did nothing, so we went back inside again. I then went out in the front yard to pull weeds in a little garden area and when I returned not more than ten minutes later I discovered a trail of pee leading to the back door. Dawn never does this. I wonder why she didn't go when I had her outside a little earlier. I hope she isn't getting senile or has some kind of medical issue. She's been fine the rest of the day, but it's something to keep an eye on.

My long walk this afternoon was curtailed by foot pain again this afternoon. I was lucky to get 10,000 steps today. It's a shame that my feet have been bothering me when the weather has been so nice. This would have been a great afternoon for a long walk. As much as I hate driving in city traffic, I'll probably have to start going back to the gym soon. I have a feeling that my feet need a rest and I probably need to start doing some alternate exercises anyway. My upper body strength is terrible now. It's a shame that it is so easy to lose muscle mass as you get older, but so hard to gain it back again. 

I've got to stop using Facebook. It's become totally irritating lately. Whenever I see an interesting story, it always ends up being hidden behind a paywall. I hate those paywalls and steadfastly refuse to subscribe to anything. Newspapers and magazines are the worst. Now that nobody reads the printed page anymore, all these publications seem to be trying to recreate their subscription models online. Even in the old days I used to read magazines in libraries. I guess I've always thought that information should be free. Almost as irritating as paywalls is the proliferation of sponsored articles on Facebook. These are all clickbait. If you click on an interesting headline and picture, you are led through an endless series of pages filled with ads and other nonsense, all trying to get you to hit the next button that will lead you to your destination. Usually I realize that I've been scammed after hitting the next button a few times. I should have learned by now that these sponsored posts are all worthless clickbait.

Where has this week gone? I've already taken the trash out to the curb and and am contemplating going out for breakfast on Friday again. Maybe I will one of these days. I think the magic is gone unfortunately. I don't enjoy eating as much as I used to. Exploring new restaurants used to be a big adventure. Now eating a perfunctory bowl of shredded wheat is just the easiest way to get some food in my belly.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3885

I saw a meteor this morning. It was just a brief streak in the pre-dawn sky, but now I can say I saw the Perseid meteor shower without having to stay up all night. Even though we started our morning walk early enough to see meteors, it was still pretty hot. There wasn't much of a breeze this morning and it makes a big difference. The Muscovy ducks startled us today. They were sitting on the railing of a bridge we cross every morning and we almost bumped into them in the dark. Dawn didn't even seem to notice the ducks. Apparently she is only interested in rabbits. Once again we had to shorten our walk because of the heat. I'm not getting 20,000 steps anymore, but I guess it doesn't matter.

When I watch the news while I'm having my breakfast smoothie, I couldn't tell you whether I was watching something live or a tape from last month. It's all the same. Surely there must be other things going on in the world than Covid and the election. Nobody is even spending much time talking about that big explosion in Lebanon. Even the business channels are mostly about Covid and the election these days. No wonder I've started watching the live feed from the Space X facility in Boca Chica.

I went out after breakfast and got a new vehicle registration sticker to put on my windshield. The computers were down at the first place I went, so I had to search for a new location that sold the stickers. At least you can get these things in grocery stores now. It's much easier than driving downtown to the county records building. Hopefully my car related chores are done for the year. I'll just fill my tank once a month and wait until there is someplace to go again.

We see lots of runners and cyclists on our early morning walks, but the park is virtually empty in the afternoon. I enjoy the solitude, but I don't enjoy the heat. It was well over one hundred degrees when I took my afternoon walk. You'd think I could find something worthwhile to do indoors where it's cool, but I continue walking. Walking is a lot like blogging. Both are a way to reflect on life while using up a lot of time. I'll be glad when it starts getting cooler. These afternoon walks are murder. We've got another month or two of Summer, but I'm almost certain that the heat will subside before the virus does.

When I was taking the week's trash out to the curb this evening I noticed that a large lizard was along for the ride. I don't know how he got in the can but I helped him get back on the ground before leaving the can on the street. I don't think I would have done the same thing for a spider. We have lots of lizards in our yard. Maybe they'll eat the spiders.

I wonder when I'll start going back to restaurants for breakfast? It seems kind of pointless now. Oh, well. I've still got enough fruit left for another smoothie.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3675

What a difference a day makes. It was 85 degrees yesterday and 45 with rain and wind today. A line of thunderstorms rolled through town and woke me up around 5 AM. The rain slowed to a drizzle at times, but it was basically a very cold, wet day.

So much for raking more leaves before bulky trash pickup day. The remaining leaves are all wet and soggy now. I did get the pumps running when I got up this morning, but one of them doesn't seem to be pumping well. It's probably clogged again. At least the leak hasn't returned. I think we're doing a lot better than we were this time last year.

I took my walk after breakfast when I saw a break between the moving line of showers on the weather radar. I got a little wet, but it was a lot better than sitting in the house doing nothing. Yesterday, the park was full of people. Today it was just me. Spontaneous people will go to the park on a nice day. People like me who depend on a regular routine go everyday. The only people I ever see in the park on nasty days like today are really disciplined joggers and people who know their dog will poop in the house if they don't take them on their daily walk. Dogs like a routine. I'm sure this is one of the reasons I like dogs so much. We think alike.

I don't know whether I have allergies or a low grade cold. I've had a runny nose for the past two days and am sneezing a lot. The constantly changing weather probably has something to do with this. I wish the runny nose would stop. I don't like to take antihistamines but I don't like to pack my pockets with paper towels before I go anywhere either. Being outside in the damp weather seems to make things worse. I ran through quite a few paper towels on my walk today. I hope this clears up quickly. I read an article recently that if you cough or sneeze on a plane, the whole plane instantly hates you.

I need to quit fretting about my upcoming trips. There are still a lot of little details to work out, but I've got plenty of time. I hate surprises and try to avoid them whenever I can. The problem is that any type of travel is full of unknowns and surprises. Some people find this exhilarating. Not me. I like to know the outcome ahead of time. Sadly, you can't avoid surprises even if you stay home and do nothing. The roof could start leaking five minutes from now.

I've taken this week's trash out to the curb, which is always the symbolic end of the week for me. Now I've got to decide whether to go out for breakfast tomorrow. I guess it depends on the weather. There isn't a lot of food in the refrigerator, but there is always a box of cold cereal for emergencies. Rain or shine, there's still stuff I need to do tomorrow. I need to reschedule with the tree guy. Who knows when it will be dry enough to cut down a tree though? I'm also waiting on my final paperwork from NASA. Hope they don't wait until the last minute again. It always makes me nervous.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3495

There have been so many documentaries about Apollo 11 this week that I feel I know more about the space program now than I did when all this was actually happening. Looking back, it is amazing that John Kennedy's promise to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade was actually fulfilled. Kennedy himself was starting to have second thoughts about the huge expense of the program just before he was assassinated in Dallas. I don't think we could do something like this today. Can you imagine today's politically correct politicians putting Wernher von Braun in charge of the space program? During the 60's Americans hadn't become tribal yet. Despite all the unrest surrounding the Vietnam War, most Americans still had a lot of national pride. They really wanted to beat the Russians to the moon. I can't even imagine 400,000 people working toward a common goal anymore. That's how many people the Apollo program employed at its peak. Just about everyone my age knows someone who had a connection to the Apollo program.

I'm glad we persevered and kept going despite all the initial failures. It proved that you can do just about anything if you stay focused and put your mind to it. Many of those early space pioneers genuinely believed we would be living in cities on Mars by now. It was definitely possible. They didn't realize how fickle politicians can be and how quickly dreams can fade. When I was a kid I thought we'd be living on Mars by now too. I remember reading articles about space travel in my Dad's copies of Scientific American. We were already designing atomic powered rockets in Nevada during the late 1950's. Project Orion was going to take us to Mars using a rocket powered by firing a series of nuclear bombs. What could possibly go wrong?

I didn't feel like fixing our usual Saturday breakfast. I didn't watch old Have Gun Will Travel episodes while I was eating either. I found some granola that was still sitting in a box in the kitchen that I'd bought over a year ago. It tasted fine. Apparently granola lasts forever. I went shopping for fresh fruit early today, hoping to get my morning walk in before it got too hot. Once again I failed. I think it was too hot before I woke up this morning. At least there was a breeze. It was a warm breeze but it was better than nothing.

My feeble attempts at being useful today were limited to defrosting the small refrigerator and washing the car. I don't count the long walks as being useful. I'm not even sure they are healthy in all this heat. It's something to do though. I do feel like I'm starting to get some muscle tone back. In the Winter these walks might even be enjoyable.

It's time to go to the gym again. It would make sense to use the indoor track for walks but I'm reluctant to do this. I like my rituals. I've convinced myself that memorizing all the details of my route will keep my memory sharp. I make a point to look for specific objects every several hundred yards. So far, I'm memorized a lot of signage, know where to look for Egrets and turtles, and am slowly learning the names of all the plants I see. I imagine I'll take 20,000 steps tomorrow. That's what I do on Sundays.

Lady Jane is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3409

I overthink things. For almost a week I've been debating about whether to go to an afternoon movie. I've looked up theaters on Google. I've read reviews for the film I was planning to see. I've fretted about the traffic. The reviews were mostly bad and I'd just about convinced myself that going out wasn't worth the effort. Unfortunately, I had way too much time on my hands today, so at the last minute I decided to go see the movie anyway. I usually like science fiction, but I should have listened to the reviewer who said that this was basically just a prison movie in space. I wasn't fond of this movie at all.

Evidently 2 PM on a Thursday isn't when people go to the movies. When I entered the theater, I quickly understood why the guy at the ticket counter told me I could sit anywhere I wanted. I was the only one in the theater. It wasn't a huge theater, but it wasn't small either. It was weird to be the only person in the entire theater.

I'm finishing breakfast earlier now. I made my morning coffee, fixed my fruit smoothie, ate breakfast, and washed the breakfast dishes before 9 AM today. When I was tending to Dash, it was usually after 11 AM before I was finished with breakfast. I guess it's good that I'm getting an earlier start. As Summer approaches I'm going to want to take my morning walk before the day gets too hot.

It didn't get too hot today. The weather was beautiful and a three mile walk seemed like a much better alternative to staring at the computer. I've finally started seeing nesting ducks. Maybe they just got a late start this year. There were lots of recumbent bikes on the bike path today. I wonder why the riders of these bikes are always older men with short white beards? I very rarely see younger men riding recumbent bikes and I've never seen a woman on one of these things.

Prairie Verbena seems to be the wildflower of the week. These little purple flowers are everywhere now. Next week a new wildflower will take the stage. Most of the wildflowers in the park are perennials. They keep coming back in the same places year after year. I've photographed all these plants before but I still enjoy seeing them. They've become familiar friends. Unlike Texas weather, the flowers are reliable and consistent.

The week has gone quickly. I've already taken the trash out to the curb and am thinking about having shrimp grits for breakfast tomorrow. I hope this nice weather continues. I didn't even have allergy problems today. Sooner or later the rain will return and so will the 100 degree days. For now I'm going to enjoy the blue skies and mild temperatures.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3053

I was hoping that the weather would improve today, but I didn't get my wish. We got more rain. It was far too wet this morning to take Dash on a morning walk. I guess I could have gone out for breakfast, but it seemed too wet for that as well. I made myself a large bowl of oatmeal and listened to the rain on the roof as I drank my morning coffee.

It's easy to get cabin fever on days like this. Work doesn't keep me busy anymore. Daytime TV is terrible. And you can only do so much laundry. I wish I could go to sleep as easily as Dash. Since I was wide awake, I absentmindedly flipped back and forth between the news and business channels, looked at Facebook, and perused photo and electronics catalogs in search of new gear that would change my life.

Janet subscribes to Netflix, Hulu, and Acorn.tv, but I can't bring myself to watch a movie. There are thousands of books lining the walls of my office, but I can't bring myself to read a book either. The last book I really enjoyed was A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I'm sure there have been great books since then, but few have reached out to me. I think a lot of reading is instigated by recommendations from friends. Dash doesn't recommend many books.

I didn't feel like getting groceries today, but when the rain finally subsided late in the afternoon, I went out and picked up a pizza for dinner. There's a neighborhood pizza place that makes pretty good thin crust pizza. I'll probably have heartburn tonight, but who cares. On a rainy day when you can't find any motivation, sometimes a pizza is the only thing that will do.

It would have been a good day to go to the storage warehouse and organize the collection of trains. Like I've said before, I can talk myself out of virtually anything on a rainy day. I don't have any choice tomorrow. I've run out of time. I'll be glad when I put this chore behind me. It's depressing. I felt the same way when I had to sell my beloved Citroën SM. There are so many things that I was planning on dealing with later. Unfortunately, it's only a matter of time before "later" becomes now.

Dash finally did get a walk when Janet came home from work. I even saw a patch of blue sky just before sunset. Lets hope we get a few more weeks of mild Spring weather before Summer arrives. The only good thing about Summer is that my roof might finally get fixed.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3011

I was pleased to discover a repair manual for my French toilet that I'd never seen before. Unbeknownst to me, the float is adjustable. Rotate the float clockwise in the assembly to lower the water level in the tank. Rotate it counterclockwise to raise the water level. Cool. I followed the instructions and the styrofoam float did rotate exactly as advertised. I couldn't move it very far unfortunately, because it kept getting stuck on the side of the flush valve which had somehow frozen in place at a slight angle. In theory, lowering the float should lower the water level, but I wasn't able to lower it enough to make much of a difference. After monkeying around for an hour, I actually made the situation a little worse. No wonder plumbers don't want to touch this thing.

I couldn't decide on a restaurant this morning, so I just picked up some precooked bacon and eggs at the grocery store breakfast bar. It wasn't very good. I should have just cooked breakfast myself at home. At least I didn't have to make a separate trip to get groceries for the weekend. I think I'm just not willing to admit that I've lost my interest in food. Nothing I eat seems to taste very good anymore. I know I need to eat to stay healthy, but there are times when I wish I could exist without food.

Dash doesn't have this problem. He seems to want to eat all the time now. This is certainly better than not eating, but I wish we could strike a balance. I don't want Dash to get fat because his rear legs are so weak. If I'm not in the kitchen feeding him, Dash wants me napping with him in the bedroom. He gets irritated when I spend a lot of time at the computer and then starts knocking things over in the office. I try to give Dash the benefit of the doubt because he's got so much wrong with him, but I think our boy has become a little spoiled.

The printer ink I ordered arrived today and I've been watching it disappear as I run the cleaning cycle to clear the clogged lines. Epson is really just an ink company. They sell you complex printers at artificially low prices knowing that you'll have to buy their ridiculously expensive ink. Half the ink is wasted running these cleaning cycles. Pigment ink makes beautiful prints, but it clogs very easily. You've got to keep the printer running to keep it clean. Basically, you should never buy one of these large printers unless you plan to print something every day. If I hadn't become a slave to my machines, I would have ditched this cantankerous printer a long time ago. A big ink jet printer isn't nearly as essential as a toilet.

I finally got Dash to take an afternoon walk, but it wasn't easy. He doesn't like to walk down the alley in the afternoon. I practically had to carry him down the alley today, but once we got to the park, he was just fine. I don't understand this behavior at all. Dash probably thinks the same of me and wonders why I waste so much time trying to maintain old things that any sane person would have thrown away by now.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2702

Dash's bloodwork came back today and his triglyceride levels were sky high. This wasn't just a little spike. The tests showed triglyceride levels that were ten times higher than they should be. Dash's vet wanted us to change his diet immediately. This should be interesting. Dash is picky about food already. I can see him turning up his nose at the special low fat diet.

Abnormally high triglyceride levels can mean a lot of things. Sometimes the levels are high if the blood test are done right after a meal. Other times they are an indicator of poor thyroid function, pancreatitis, or liver disease. Hopefully, we just tested Dash too soon after a meal. We'll have to test him again in a couple of weeks. He'll have to fast this time. That's always fun. Dash hates to miss a meal.

I wish Dot and Dash could eat the same thing. Life is complicated enough as it is. Now we have to feed Dot a high calorie, high fat diet and Dash needs to eat just the opposite. The triglyceride levels could have become elevated just from all the food Dash steals out of Dot's bowl. At any rate, we need to get this under control. One sick dog at a time is plenty.

Dot still isn't eating in the morning. This makes giving her morning set of pills quite a challenge. It always worries me when Dot refuses to eat. So far, her appetite always seems to return late in the day, but I'm sure there will come a day when Dot quits eating completely. I don't know why Dot has adopted this strange new schedule, but I'm trying to adapt to it. I never used to appreciate how consistant the dogs were about just about everything. They always ate at the same time, walked at the same time, and slept at the same time. Now any semblance of consistency is out the window. Every day is a new day.

I bought some audio gear online today. I could justify the purchase because the gear was on sale and I got a tremendous bargain. That wasn't the reason though. I bought the stuff because I was frustrated. I always buy gear when I'm frustrated. The gear doesn't necessarily make me take more photographs or write more songs, but I always hope it will. I remember when I used to spend almost every evening writing and recording songs. Those were good times. Maybe someday the urge to write and record will return. I want to be ready when it does.

This week has gone quickly. I almost forgot to take the trash out to the curb this evening. It didn't seem like Thursday. I won't be going out to breakfast in the morning. Like songwriting, that activity has been postponed until sometime in an indefinite future. I do have pancake mix though and there are sausages in the freezer. It's always easy for me to eat. I just wish it was equally easy for Dot.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2674

Good grief. Now Dash is throwing up. When I walked into the office early this morning and noticed last night's dinner on the floor, my first response was "which dog did this." It became obvious very quickly who the culprit was. As soon as we took Dash outside to pee, he threw up again on the porch. Unfortunately one of the symptoms associated with Old Dog Vestibular Disease is nausea or vomiting. When Dash had his Vestibular seizures back in February, I had hoped that he would make a full recovery. He still may, but his doctor warned me that sometimes symptoms could last for months.

I called Dash's oncologist to see what to do next and he prescribed an anti nausea medication. We're not supposed to use the medication unless he throws up again. At least we have a plan now. I feel better knowing what caused the vomiting and what to do when it happens again. Hopefully, we can keep this controlled. We have dozens of easily washable rugs throughout the house, but Dash inevitably heads straight for the carpet when he has an upset stomach. The pills are expensive too. Basically, every time Dash vomits it costs $20.

Dealing with two sick dogs at the same time can be nerve racking. If one dog is pooping in the bedroom while the other is vomiting in the kitchen, who do you deal with first? I usually have to stay with Dot, since she can't walk on her own, but I've got to keep an eye on Dash as well. I have to leave the back door open when I take Dot outside to pee, and often Dash will follow behind if he has an upset stomach and start eating grass. Eating grass is a sure fire way to start vomiting again. I waited until both dogs were sleeping soundly before I drove up to the cancer center to pick up Dash's meds. If the dogs are awake, all bets are off.

I didn't feed Dash much today and made sure he had a very bland diet. So far, he has held everything down. It's a bigger deal when Dash vomits than it is with most dogs. He takes phenobarbital to control epileptic seizures and it is important that he gets the proper dose every single day. If he throws up one of his pills, you have to skip a day and risk a seizure, because you definitely don't want to overdose a dog with phenobarbital. I probably know enough about pills now to pass a pharmacy exam. I never dreamed that keeping your dog healthy could become so complicated.

I doubt that I'll be able to go out for breakfast tomorrow. Dot's schedule seems to have changed. She is very restless early in the morning now. It frustrates her that she can't walk on her own. On most days she doesn't settle down and go back to sleep until almost 11 AM. I guess I could go out to lunch, but I never eat lunch anymore. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If the day is anything like today, it will be a three ring circus.

If burnout starts to seem completely normal, have you transcended burnout, or have you just entered your own private Twilight Zone? I really don't know. I haven't traveled down this road before.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2582

Today seemed surprisingly normal. There was no need to get up early. The temperature is back above freezing. And Dot woke up on a dry pad for the first time in a long time. It's too early to celebrate, but starting over with the Incurin medication appears to be working. It still felt like Winter on our morning walk, but the sky was clear and the brisk air felt good. I had a feeling that it was going to be a good day.

I've noticed that I'm not eating as much as I used to. I don't think there's anything wrong, but my appetite has certainly diminished. There was a time when I routinely ate three eggs for breakfast. For many years, two eggs seemed plenty. Lately, I've noticed that one egg fills me up. Of course, when I have eggs for breakfast, I usually have toast and sausage or bacon as well, but I eat less of these too. Maybe this is just a natural part of aging. Eating less probably helps keep my weight stable. I have a feeling that I don't burn nearly as many calories as I was when I was walking Dot and Dash six miles a day.

When the dogs grew too old for our marathon walks, it became apparent that I wasn't going to stay fit by watching TV. That's when I started going to the gym. I didn't have high expectations when I went to the gym today. I'd eaten too much over the holidays and skipped my workouts for two weeks. Much to my surprise, I did pretty well. The normally empty gym was almost full today. I guess people haven't given up on their New Year's resolutions yet.

I stopped by the REI store on the way home. I don't need anything, but it's always fun to look around. Camping food certainly has gone upscale. I was amazed to see that you could get freeze dried versions of Chana Masala, Vietnamese Pho, Chicken Piccata with Tagliatelle Pasta, and Chicken Vindaloo. The prices weren't bad. I'm so lazy about cooking now that I was intrigued about getting some of these meals for my regular evening dinners. Cooking freeze dried camping meals is easy. You just throw the stuff in a pot of boiling water, wait twenty minutes and you're done. I'm also fascinated with Goal Zero solar powered generators. These are basically just very expensive storage batteries with a built-in power inverter. It takes forever to recharge them using solar panels, but everyone who has fantasies about living off the grid needs one.

I can vaguely hear the Golden Globe Awards playing on a TV in another room. I don't think anyone is watching, since Janet is asleep. It's hard to believe I used to really be interested in movies. I watched something new almost every week and even took movie reviews seriously. Just not interested anymore. I don't even know who a lot of the younger actors are.

How can a person's interests change from movies and award shows to freeze dried food? It's all part of life, I guess.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2510

The roofers came today and my trash got emptied. I'd call that a success. I probably didn't even need to go up on the roof to show the repair crew where the damage was. It was pretty obvious. The roofers admitted that they'd been having some problems with the material they initially coated my roof with. you're not the only one with this problem," the foreman told me. This material had only one job" to keep out water. "We're discovering that the elastomer begins to dissolve if it's under water for any length of time," the guys told me. Oops. Hopefully, they used something tough and durable this time. I'd really like to get this problem solved.

I wonder if the sanitation department had a talk with the driver on our route. For the second week in a row, all the trash on our street seems to be getting collected. I have a new lucky spot to place my rolling cart on Thursday evening. I hope that nobody starts parking their car here. My special spot is one of the few places on the street without overhanging tree limbs that might confuse the robotic arm on the truck.

I didn't get to go out for breakfast this morning, but this was a small price to pay for getting the roof fixed. I found some Jimmy Dean sausage to go along with the toaster waffles in the freezer and had a lovely breakfast, punctuated by the sound of Dash barking at me. He seemed mad that there weren't any bananas this morning. I hate to miss my Friday breakfast outings. They are a little oasis of calm in a hectic week.

I downloaded Microsoft Word and Excel for my new iPad and then discovered that they are practically useless unless I also subscribe to to Office 365. I hate these subscription models that everyone is going to. I have to subscribe to my anti-virus software. My website development platform requires an annual subscription. Then there's Hulu and Netflix. It adds up. Software subscriptions are just like leasing a car or renting an apartment. I'd really prefer owning this stuff.

It looks like the big news of the day was that the FBI reopened their investigation of Hillary Clinton.  I find it hilarious that after using sex in an attempt to bring down Trump, the Clinton campaign may ultimately be derailed by Anthony Weiner of all people. Jeez, if Huma Abedin is such a powerful person, what on earth was she doing sharing a computer with her pedophile husband? Trump certainly doesn't have a monopoly on bad judgement in this election. There is plenty to go around. I still think we need a do-over. If this election were a movie, people would say it was too farfetched to be believable.

Dot seemed to be feeling better today. She certainly was vocal and active. Every time I tried to take a shower, she'd start barking for attention. This wasn't aimless random barking either. Most of the time when I got her up and took her outside, she promptly peed or pooped. I didn't get to take a shower until late in the afternoon, but I was glad to see Dot's mind working normally again.

Janet has to go into work tomorrow morning, so the dogs will just think it's another workday. That's probably for the best. Dot and Dash don't like surprises. I'm starting to feel the same way.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2509

It took a lot longer than I thought to get the new iPad ready to use. There ought to be a red big button at the start of the configuration process that says skip all this stuff. I'll do it later. Since no such button exists, I spent a long time answering dumb questions, trying to remember various passwords, and learning how to make a readable fingerprint scan. I should have selected the option to configure a new iPad rather than restore an old one, because I ended up transferring a lot of old apps that I don't even use anymore. Eventually, I got the all clear to use the freshly configured tablet, but I wasn't done yet. I had to take the iPad down to the AT&T store and add it to my wireless plan.

AT&T marketing materials always make everything they offer seem easy and affordable, but I learned a long time ago that this isn't always the case. There's always a surprise that makes your plan much more expensive than you thought it would be. I have no idea why they felt justified in charging me an exorbitant activation fee when I was just adding the tablet to an existing plan. There was no need to try to pressure me into buying more data either. "But you'll need more data now that you're using two devices," said the pushy sales representative. "No I won't," I said. "I'm only using one at a time." We went back and forth for a while and ultimately she failed to sell me anything extra.

The roofers are coming out tomorrow. Well, they promised to come out tomorrow anyway. We'll see what happens. Since the roofers typically get started early, I won't be able to go out for breakfast in the morning. I definitely want to be here while they are working. This time I want to make sure that all the bad areas get repaired, instead of just some of them. I've already eaten this week's supply of fresh fruit, so I won't be able to make my regular smoothie tomorrow. Hopefully, there's still a package of toaster waffles in the freezer. If that doesn't work out, there's always oatmeal.

I've gotten really superstitious about taking out the trash. Since the trash ultimately did get picked up last week, I tried to place my rolling cart in exactly the same spot this evening. Maybe I need to mark the spot with chalk or something. I had a hard time remembering where I put my can last week. If you're looking for a lucky spot, a foot or two in the wrong direction could make all the difference.

Maybe I'll write the blog on the iPad tomorrow. Since I rarely do serous video editing anymore, I could probably use this high octane tablet for most things I do. I like the idea of a slim, powerful tablet replacing my computers, but I'm also a creature of habit. I've spent so many years sitting in front of this giant monitor that it might be too late to change.

My SiriusXM free trial ends in a few days. I need to decide whether to subscribe or not. I like listening to NPR in the car, but I really don't drive much anymore. I don't really need satellite radio, but then I don't really need Hulu or Netflix either. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between wants and needs. I do need a leak free roof and reliable trash pick up. If I can get those two things taken care of tomorrow, I'll be a happy camper.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2473

The trouble with credit cards is that a month or so after you buy something, you actually have to pay for it. I feel poor today, because in addition to the usual charges for gasoline, groceries, prescription medicine, and miscellaneous junk I thought I needed at Home Depot, there was the humongous yearly rent for my storage warehouse on the latest credit card bill. So why didn't I write a check for the rent when it was due? Well, it was just easier to postpone the pain until next month. It can be confusing paying for things that you've already forgotten about buying using money that you've already forgotten about earning. I delay paying my bills as long as I can and my clients delay paying me as long as they can. The net result is that there is no cause and effect anymore. It just feels like I'm broke all the time.

I watched a crew pouring concrete in the park while I was walking Dash this morning. I've been watching this sidewalk being constructed for three months now. The crew would grade a path with a bulldozer and then put wooden forms and re-bar in place so the concrete could be poured. They did this three separate times this Summer until they were apparently satisfied with their work this morning. I asked one of the guys whey they kept tearing up their work and starting over? They said their previous efforts weren't up to code because the grade was too steep. This was a bike path, mind you. The city could have saved a ton of money if they just let the cyclists pedal a little harder. The city probably had some rule that said that no bike path could have more than a ten percent grade. If someone created a path with a twelve percent grade, they had to start over. It all seems silly to me.

I finished writing my latest article and once again had difficulty sending it to my client. It appears that their IT department wasn't able to Whitelist me after all. I keep getting identified as a spammer, even though I've never sent spam in my life. These difficulties make me wish I had my old private ISP back. I never used to have these problems until I moved to a large ISP with thousands of servers. My little local ISP stayed under the radar until the owner retired and shut down the company, forcing me to go somewhere else. Once again, the old days were better.

My bananas were still green this morning, so I went to the store and got some ripe ones. I never realized that bananas were so cheap, since Janet usually picks them up. I got a pound of bananas for fifty cents. On the way home I stopped to pick up some Chinese take-out for dinner and they said they were out of the Thai noodle dish I had ordered online. I'm easy. I just asked what they had that was real spicy and substituted something else. Anything to avoid cooking is fine by me.

Dot seemed to enjoy not having to go to physical therapy. Her limp is a little better, but she is still pretty shaky. For the second day in a row, she made a mess and pooped all over her special harness. We have a spare harness now for these occasions. I felt like taking her outside and cleaning her with the garden hose, but she hates this, so I cleaned her up with warm wet towels instead. Dot is as sweet as she can be, but she wears me out.

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall. It certainly doesn't feel like Fall yet. It has been unseasonably hot all week. I can tell the seasons are changing though, because the days are getting shorter. I saw Orion in the pre-dawn sky as we walked Dot and Dash around the block this morning. Pretty soon it will be even darker. I won't miss the hot weather as Winter approaches, but I will miss the sunlight. I do better with lots of sunlight.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2408

I've been walking more lately. We get up early and take Dot on a walk around the block. Leading Dot on this short, slow journey isn't enough for Dash, so after we return, we feed both dogs their breakfast and then I take Dash on a second much longer walk. We call this our boy's walk. By the time I return from my walk with Dash, Janet has already left for work and Dot is sleeping in her bed.

This is how I start my day. It may not be all that exciting, but it has it's moments. I'm encouraged to see that Dot isn't wobbling as much on our short walks. Maybe, when the weather gets cooler and Dot gets stronger, we can do something a little more ambitious. Until then, I'll continue to daydream as I walk Dash, occasionally noting a strange new bird or a pretty flower. I'll dawdle over my own breakfast when we return, feeding Dot and Dash slices of banana as I drink my morning smoothy. There's no reason to hurry. Life has slowed down for me as well.

I made sure the roof was clear of water this morning because the roofers promised me that they'd come out later this week and patch the bad spots. Will they actually show up? Who knows. They've been making promises for a long time now. Eventually, everything will get fixed. Dealing with roofers teaches you patience. So does dealing with old dogs. I think that I've got a lot of patience, but probably not enough. It's probably only a matter of time before I start saying "get off my lawn" to neighbors.

I watched bits and pieces of the Republican Convention today. What else was there to do? I don't know about you, but I thought Melania was fabulous. She was calm, poised, and reminded me of Jackie Kennedy. The guy who followed her on stage reminded me more of Dr. Strangelove, but I guess everybody can't be a supermodel. Like the Oscars and the Grammys, political conventions are way too long. By the end of the evening, most of the older folks in the audience were falling asleep.

I'm probably putting you to sleep myself, because as you can tell, not a lot happened today. Dealing with what comes after a life of work and meetings is still a mystery to me. Taking care of Dot is tough at times, but it has provided me with a purpose. Tomorrow, I'll keep working on keeping her legs moving, clean up her poop, and probably watch more political speeches while she's asleep. I think they ought to hold both political conventions at the same time so you could just channel surf back and forth between them. As patient as I am, I think watching eight solid days of this stuff would drive anybody crazy.

Beemer is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2405

Things didn't go exactly as planned today. My blood test took forever. The clinic wanted me to fill out new paperwork. Why? "I've been coming to see you guys for over fifteen years," I said. "And nothing has changed. "Oh, we're just updating our records," a nurse told me. I guess she didn't understand. As I said, nothing has changed.

I asked the guy drawing my blood what my blood type was. I've had hundreds of blood tests, and I still don't know what my blood type is.  "Oh, we don't normally do this test," he told me, "because insurance won't pay for it." You've got to be kidding me. I find it hard to believe that insurance will routinely pay for dozens of weird esoteric tests that might not have any real value, but they won't even tell you what your blood type is.

The weather looked fine when I arrived at the clinic early this morning. By the time I left, there were dark, ominous looking storm clouds to the North of me. I checked the weather radar on my phone and they were definitely headed my way. Since my storm phobic dogs were home alone, I decided not to go out for breakfast this morning and headed straight home. Five minutes after I pulled into the driveway, the wind picked up and a major downpour started. It's been a long time since we've had this much rain in July.

The refrigerator is always pretty empty at the end of the week, but I did manage to find a package of toaster waffles in the freezer. I would have preferred Eggs Benedict, but frozen waffles will have to do this week. Breakfast wasn't all that great, but the dogs were glad to have me around. Dot and Dash both stayed calm and by noon the unexpected rain was over.

It's seems like there's a new catastrophe every day. Today there was a military coup in Turkey. This is so confusing. The Turkish army wants to preserve the country's secular heritage, destroy ISIS, and restore democracy, which is something you'd think we'd approve of. The current elected president is well on his way to becoming a dictator and is doing his best to turn Turkey into an Islamic state. So, who does our president support? Well it isn't the army. It wouldn't be the first time we picked the wrong side. It's almost impossible to tell who the good guys are in the Middle East anyway. Maybe there aren't any good guys.

I'm starting to see Jimson Weed flowers in the park. This plant always makes me nervous because it is so toxic. All parts of the plant are highly poisonous and you definitely don't want your dogs to be eating them. People have died from mistakenly using Jimson Weed leaves to brew tea, or from eating the roots. It's odd that the flowers are so pretty. Nature can be deadly, but I'm still more worried about people.

Lots of poop to clean up today. I guess with everything I've been seeing on TV lately, this is a very minor problem.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2390

If I told you that there was a blog that only talked about eating breakfast, dog poop, and the hidden dangers of globalism, would you read it? I didn't think so. Sometimes I feel like apologizing about the monotonous state of my life. I could make this narrative a lot more interesting if I just started making things up. Alternately, I could just post something whenever I had a fascinating insight. Life isn't always full of fascinating insights though. I guess that was my point when I started this. I wanted to show what life was like on a day-to-day basis when you didn't edit out the uneventful and insignificant days. Like it or not, there are a lot of days just like today.

I managed to get Dot outside this morning before she peed on the floor, but my luck ended there. She came back inside and proceeded to poop while she was eating her breakfast. This happens so frequently that the area around her food bowl is well protected. I took the waterproof mat under her bowl outside, hosed it down, threw it in the washing machine, and replaced it with a fresh clean mat. If she could have only waited five more minutes, we would have been on our way, taking our morning walk.

When I ate my own breakfast after we returned, I noticed that the bananas were getting mushy and there were were a few bad spots in the strawberries. The fruit still tasted fine, but it had seen better days. Thursday is the end of the road for my morning smoothies. Tomorrow, I go out for breakfast, and this weekend I start all over again with the freshest looking fruit I can find. This routine is kind of monotonous, but it is also delicious. I wouldn't change a thing.

Work consisted of a series of conversations where my client would tell me that their website wasn't working and after running some tests, I would tell them that everything was fine and that the website worked perfectly. We went back and forth like this for hours and I'm still not sure what their problem was. There was nothing wrong with the code on the site, but there could have been all sorts of other problems. Maybe something was wrong with their network. Maybe they were looking at the site using an out-of-date browser. Maybe they just didn't understand what I was telling them.

I went up on the roof this afternoon to remove the standing water that had accumulated after our recent thunderstorms. It's been so hot that a lot of the water had already evaporated. The water that remained had started to turn green. This meant that little things were growing in it. One day, I'm going to find tadpoles swimming around in this water. Nature is a beautiful thing, but I'd just as soon not have so much nature up on my roof.

While I was walking Dash this evening, I watched a squirrel carry a large horse apple that must have weighed more than he did up a tree and then proceeded to eat the entire thing. I guess humans aren't the only greedy animals.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day