Day 4189

It was a very busy day. Right after breakfast I got out the reciprocating saw and attempted to cut down the remaining dead Photinia trees in the back yard. The new carbide tipped blade helped a lot, but there were still a few trees where the stumps were too thick for my saw. I was amazed at how heavy these trees were. I had trouble hauling some of them out to the alley. Later this week I will move the pile of wood out to the curb for the monthly bulky trash pick-up. By the time I was finished, I was drenched in sweat and changed my clothes for the first of many times today.

After a short nap to rest up, we took Dawn on her special outing to her Sunday park. She gets so excited about these Sunday outings now. I'm beginning to think that she's not really scared to ride in the car. All her weird behavior might be just the way she shows her excitement. We had a nice walk. It was starting to get hot, but the walk was short enough that Dawn was in no danger of getting overheated. Her self imposed one mile limit is actually pretty smart. We always conclude our outing with ice cream cones at Andy's. Dawn loves ice cream. After we returned home I changed my clothes for a second time. I wonder if people sweat more when they get older. I never remember sweating this much in the summer.

The temperature was in the 90's by the time we returned home. I was pretty tired already and wasn't really looking forward to a six mile walk. I took a short nap and finally managed to convince myself that I still needed the exercise. This was another slow day. My pace was two minutes per mile slower than it usually is on a cooler day. The park wasn't very full for a Sunday. Most sane people were staying inside. I'm always surprised at the number of people having family picnics on really hot days. Is this actually fun? There were very few joggers and runners today, but quite a few picnics.

When I returned from my long walk I was totally beat. I took a shower and changed my clothes for a third time. At least our air conditioner is working well. If the air conditioner broke we would be miserable in less than an hour. Things don't look good for the week ahead. It looks like it is going to be sunny and hot for the rest of the week. Temperatures will be in the high 90's and may top 100 degrees on some days. This is only June too. July is usually much worse.

It's easy to get dehydrated on days like this. I find myself drinking twice as much water as I usually do. Even this probably doesn't replace the amount I sweat though. Our house is still cool, but the air conditioner never stops running. I have a feeling that our electric bill is going to be horrendous next month. The electric bill is always high in the summer, but the electric companies all raised their rates after last winter's big freeze knocked the power out throughout the state. I'm not looking forward to this. The air conditioner compressor and two dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity.

These weeks go quickly. It's already time to visit the rescue Dalmatians again. We heard that Riggs got adopted this week and that there's a new dog up at the kennel. I'm not sure what his name is, but he's young and quite handsome. I'll need to remember to take my camera so I can get some pictures up on the website. I don't expect a lot to happen next week, but I do wish it would cool off a little. How quick we forget. It's only been a week or so since all the rain ended and I'm already wishing it would come back.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1436

I woke up late and barely made it to my breakfast meeting. Wednesdays aren't my favorite day anymore. There's just too much going on. I usually change three times on Wednesdays. I wear a suit to the networking breakfast. I change into raggedy dog walking clothes and work boots when I return. Then later in the day, I put on some respectable casual clothes to take Dot for her weekly physical therapy session. I try to complete at least one writing assignment between the dog's morning walk and Dot's vet appointment. Then when I'm back to the office for good, I tackle the day's website revisions.

I'm sure that many of you have much more hectic days than this, but I don't do hectic anymore. If I did, I'd still be sitting in a status meeting at a big ad agency somewhere, instead of working in a quite room with a dog under my desk.

I'm still having problems with my large printer. I guess I waited too long between cleaning cycles. Since I no longer have a need for large museum quality prints, maintaining this complicated printer has become a giant nuisance. The printer is so heavy that I can't even move it by myself, so taking it to a repair center is problematic at best. I had to have a friend help me install the thing years ago and it's sat in the same dusty office corner ever since. Remind me to never buy anything that uses ink ever again.

One of my doctors wants me to take a pill that he says will improve my cognitive abilities. I scoffed at the idea at first and was actually a bit insulted. Hey, my business is thinking up solutions for people and I feel at times that my life is like doing a complex Sudoku puzzle that never ends. Maybe the Doc is right though. Janet changed the dog's food recently and now I can't seem to remember which dog eats which bag of kibble. I have a feeling that I've been feeding Dot's food to Dash for several weeks now.

There are thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow. I hope the forecast is wrong. Rain slows me down tremendously. I think I'm only half as productive on a stormy day. The dogs are terrified of thunder and lightning. I don't like to drive in the rain. And even though I put an entirely new roof on the house this year, I still worry about leaks.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day