Day 2827

It says something that it's easier to put Dash in the car and take him to the vet than it is to try to remove a bandage ourselves. As bad as Dash is in the car, he's even worse when we try to mess with his feet. Dash was actually good at the vet tonight. He was probably grateful that we didn't try to take the bandage off ourselves. Now we have to be careful that Dash doesn't reopen the wound. This is easier said than done, because he loves to roll around on his back on the floor and scratch himself. It's real easy to rub his paw on the carpet and open a cut while he is doing this. There is really no way to stop him from rolling like this. It's become a habit.

I got a check today for my last outstanding invoice. Nobody owes me anything anymore. That's kind of a sobering thought. I've had a healthy accounts receivable balance for as long as I can remember. I'm sure I'll still get work from time to time, but the signs are all pointing in the wrong direction. My business is winding down. Whether I like it or not, I've had my turn and it's time for a new generation to take the reins.

I went to pick up my dog walking boots today and the shoe repairman said they weren't ready yet. "But the little ticket you gave me said to pick them up Wednesday," I said. The shoe repairman smiled and assured me that they will be ready tomorrow. Oh, well. I like the shoe repairman, but being late is endemic these days. Everybody is late.

I paid my September bills today. Being free of bills never lasts long. My storage warehouse rent is due at the end of the month. I always pay by the year because I get a free month if I pay in advance. The storage warehouse rent goes up every year. I guess they know it's going to be way too difficult to move to a different storage facility for most people. I grit my teeth and pay. I don't know what to do with this stuff. The storage warehouse costs more per month than my apartment did when I was working in Seattle. It was a nice apartment too. Everything costs too much now. I have a friend who has a horse and the stable costs more than my old apartment too.

Janet is watching The Vietnam War in another room. I hear bits and pieces of the show as I wander around the house. Someday Ken Burns will probably make a documentary about the Iraq War and it will be equally sad. All these wars we've had since World War II have been pointless. A lot of brave people died for nothing. North Vietnam won the war and now all my shoes seem to be made there. The country has become a big trading partner with the United States. It's even become a tourist destination.

I'll go pick up my boots after breakfast tomorrow. I eat breakfast so slowly that  it will give the shoe repairman plenty of time to finish his work. Dash has a new soft cone on its way via Amazon Prime. He probably won't like this cone any better, but at least he won't be knocking things over quite as often. Tomorrow doesn't look like a very exciting day, but as long as nothing bad happens, I'm good. My expectations are very low these days.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2801

I wasn't expecting things to go so smoothly today. We didn't get any rain, so I was able to walk Dash before we went to the vet. The walk made a difference. Dash wasn't as wild in the car, and more importantly there was no poop to clean up. The car still smells clean. I think the Phenobarbital level test was done correctly too, so we probably won't have to do this again.

After I brought Dash home, I went out for breakfast and ran a few errands. I had Lox and a bagel, which always reminds me of traveling. Maybe when life returns to normal, I'll do some traveling. NASA still offers writers like me opportunities to view launches from time to time. It would be fun to apply for press credentials again. We'll se how the rest of the year goes. Right now there are bills to pay and Janet needs to get healthy again.

The roofers delivered a big can of the special elastomer coating for the roof. I would have preferred that they applied the coating themselves, but this is a reasonable compromise. The problem now is that the five gallon can of elastomer is way too heavy for me to move to the roof.  One of my errands today was to find smaller cans that I could transfer the product to and them hoist them up to the roof with a rope. I'm not sure how the roofers got the large cans up on the roof, but I certainly can't move this thing by myself. I've got plenty of time to come up with a plan. It looks like it is going to rain all weekend.

We're getting better at changing bandages. Luckily, Janet goes back to the doctor on Monday so somebody who knows what they're doing can review our work. I'd hate to think that we were doing something wrong day after day. You'd think that after complicated surgery, doctors wouldn't want to leave anything to chance. Changing dressings yourself seems fairly universal though. Unless you go home in a cast, you'll eventually have to change a bandage or two.

Hurricane Harvey looks pretty bad. I'm watching the Weather Channel now and wondering why whenever there's a hurricane, reporters like to stand out in the rain and get blown around by gusts of wind. It seems like a broadcast tradition. I'm always amazed that people like to live in low costal areas. Hurricanes are nothing new. They occur over and over again. Towns get flooded and they just rebuild in the same place and start over. Hopefully, everyone will stay safe, but I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to have some serious flood damage tonight. Here I am worrying about a few inches of water on my roof and there are thousands of people dealing with a nine foot storm surge.

When Janet is home I forget what day it is. They all seem the same. Today seemed a lot like Saturday. You can't tell what day it is by the traffic anymore. There is horrible traffic everyday. I actually did think it was Saturday for a while when I was grocery shopping this afternoon. Maybe I'll think it's Sunday tomorrow.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2800

I wish weather forecasts were more accurate. Earlier in the week, I made an appointment to take Dash back to the vet for another fasting blood test on Friday because it looked like it was going to be the only sunny day this week. My plan was to walk Dash very early to make sure that he would poop before he got in the car. I definitely don't want a repeat of Tuesday's disastrous trip to the vet. Now that Friday is approaching, it looks like it is going to rain early tomorrow morning. That might spoil my plans for a walk. Jeez. It was dry as a bone on Wednesday and Thursday when it was supposed to rain. The little weather app on my phone is never right. I don't know why I even look at it. Hopefully, this new forecast is wrong too.

It turned out that it was more difficult that we anticipated to change Janet's bandages. We didn't have all the supplies we needed, so I had to make a trip to the specialty pharmacy before we even started. You'd think that nothing could be easier than changing a bandage, but these have several layers and each layer must be applied exactly right. You don't want to do anything that would disturb the delicate sutures and you definitely don't want to do anything that might cause an infection. I think we did a good job, but it is nerve wracking. I think we would both rather just drive to the doctor's office every day and have them do it. That wasn't an option unfortunately.

I think I discovered how water is getting under the shower tiles, but I'm not sure how to fix the problem. I taped the area where the shower door frame attaches to the tile floor with painters tape so water couldn't seep into a small space that was designed to let water dripping down the glass doors drain back into the shower. There is no way to access this drainage cavity because it is covered by the door frame itself. I think some of the tiles have cracked under this frame due to foundation settling and that's how water is getting between the tiles and the shower pan. None of this is fix it yourself stuff. The only way to see if I'm right would be to remove the entire shower door assembly from the wall and look underneath. Since you can't unscrew the frame from the wall, or remove the heavy glass doors, I think this is beyond my pay grade. I guess I could just leave the blue painter's tape where it is. It is ugly and is probably not meant to be where I placed it, but it has dramatically diminished the leak.

Dash was a very finicky eater this morning. He wouldn't eat his regular food and wasn't interested in Dot's either. The only other food we had on hand was a holistic blend that we discontinued about six months ago because it made his poop soft. Wouldn't you know. Dash loved this brand of kibble today. This doesn't bode well for tomorrow morning. I really don't want him to poop in my car again.

I'm glad I don't live in Houston. It looks like a hurricane is headed their way this weekend. We have the occasional tornado here in Dallas, but the chances of actually getting hit by a funnel cloud are very low. Hurricanes are much harder to avoid. Here's hoping that the hurricane changes course. Let's also hope that Dash has an uneventful trip to the vet tomorrow morning, and that Janet and I will soon become pros at changing bandages.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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